Book Review: 'The Secret of Chimneys' by Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie, one of the greatest mystery writers of all time - some would say the greatest - was one author whose works I found too creepy to read when I was a kid. (I have to blame this on my sis; she used to feed me Christie's stories when we were alone in our room at night with the lights turned off etc - and when images of dead bodies and children being murdered while bobbing for apples can be quite traumatising and scar one for life:D)

Anyway, when my interest in Agatha Christie was rekindled some time back, I found myself picking up The Secret of Chimneys  as a starting point, wondering what I would find inside. I expected lots of crime and dark shadows, villains and knives.

I wasn't disappointed.

Christie works these elements as only the best storytellers can. What got me hooked though was the addictive narrative, the humourous, witty turn of the tale following Anthony Cade's footsteps as he assumes the identity of a friend to deliver the memoirs of a foreign Count to London publishers.

That manuscript... It caused such a stir before it was even published that I felt a bit jealous of the Count:)

You see, every political party from the small European nation of Herzoslovakia wants to get their hands on the Count's memoirs, afraid of the secrets that would be revealed by it. As a result, the story becomes a delighfully sinister (yes, I too never thought those two words could ever go together:D) romp through London and then to the English countryside and Chimneys mansion, complete with political intrigue every step of the way.

There are attempted (and successful) assasinations, little gibes at Sherlock Holmes (I could almost see a sardonic smile on Agatha Christie's lips as she put those in) and, of course, intriguing personalities that Christie flushes out so very well.

The characters in the story are very much what makes the book so interesting, so I won't go into too much detail here for fear of spoiling anyone's experience of it:) Let me just say that Anthony Cade was witty and amusing, Virginia entrancing, and Superintendent Battle became an unexpectedly pleasant surprise of a character (no doubt meant to be yet another dig at detectives with the personalities of Sherlock Holmes).

A mention has to go to Chimneys' owner, the ninth Marquis of Caterham. I couldn't help feeling sorry for the beleagured fellow as he reluctantly allows foreign office minister George Lomax to bully him into using Chimneys once again as a base from which to support the cause of British hegemony in Europe.

At the end of it all, The Secret of Chimneys was a really addictive book. I just kept turning to the next page, and laughing out loud when I least expected to. That's the best kind of book there is, don't you think?

I understand now why Agatha Christie's stories are still in print, and voraciously read, after all this time. They're entertaining, witty and atmospheric; who wouldn't want to read something which packs such an enjoyable punch, especially on a dark and stormy kind of day (or night)...

Chimneys has been a cool introduction (re-introduction, really) to Christie's writing. I have to say I'm encouraged to read more of her work now, so it's on to The Secret Adversary for me!

I hope you enjoyed this short review:)

Book Review: 'The Secret of Chimneys' by Agatha Christie

Book Review: 'Lolita' by Vladimir Nabokov

When I finally picked up Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, it was for two reasons.

I'd been curious about the controversy surrounding the story for the longest time, one which centred on the book's plot:  a middle-aged man's attraction to a sexually precocious 12 year old girl.

My second reason was a passage from Lolita that I'd come across in a book on writing tools; a passage that was written so beautifully, so economically, so evocatively, so damn well in fact, that it piqued my interest and made me wish to discover more of the voice Nabokov had created in this infamous story.

I guess this is where I quote the passage that caught my eye in the first place. I wonder if it will grab you and never let go the way it did me.

"Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta.

She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita."

These lines set the stage for protagonist Humbert Humbert's unhealthy obsession with 12 year old Dolores Haze, to whom he affectionately *shuddering with distaste here* awards the pet name 'Lolita'.

Soon, we are introduced quite intimately to the desperate, near-monochromatic world of seduction, corruption and self-indulgence that makes up Humbert Humbert's entire world view. And we are made to watch with a kind of horrified fascination as his sometimes hilarious methods to obtain the object of his infatuation come closer and closer to success.

Humbert Humbert's ruthless manouvering into Lolita's life (to the point of becoming her stepfather) and the subsequent swift unravelling of her world - and his - occurs with a deft, graceful hand.

But what surprised me most about Lolita was the sheer honesty in Nabokov's writing.

Nabokov isn't pulling any punches here. There is no pretence. This story is blatantly about the sexual attraction felt by a man for a child.

Yet, Nabokov handles his tale with the touch of a master. There is no explicit erotica, not in the modern sense of the word anyway; matters which occur under the sheets are hinted at more than painted in excruciating detail.

It's the emotional pain of the participatants in this tragic travesty of familial life that is so well drawn out. The  pain of innocence betrayed is breaking at the seams throughout the book. This, if anything, is what can make Lolita such a difficult book to read; it's impossible to remain removed from the plight of Nabokov's remarkable characters.

Young, vulnerable and precocious Lolita is gradually stripped of her freedom and innocence through choices quite beyond her control. And - in the saddest way - though it is impossible to sympathise with Humbert Humbert, there is definitely a sickening sense of fury and horror at being faced with the existence of this damned, selfish and utterly weak-minded personality who is so enslaved to his desires that he doesn't hesitate to wreck the lives of those too powerless to defend themselves from him.

Vivid and elegant prose aside, Nabokov's grasp on the dynamics of the human personality, his sensitivity to nuances of abuse, manipulation and deception that are often ignored, misunderstood or - sadly - left unvoiced by victims and onlookers alike, and his courage to tackle a subject that was taboo for reasons that are truly beyond me (shouldn't the protection of the defenseless be a priority over issues of potentially erotic subject matter?) has been eye-opening to me.

As a writer, and as an individual, I feel a renewed responsibility to speak for those who don't have a voice to fight for their freedom from abusive situations/relationships.

Lolita's storyline is one of perversity, yes, but it is a perversity which not only reveals the unreliability of the source of the story, Humbert Humbert, but also society's wilful turning of a blind eye to matters that disturb its clean and shiny persona.

Issues concerning the lack of care/protection of children is woven into the entire story in tiny, veiled glimpses, both in terms of Lolita's youthful confusion and heart-breaking need for a truly loving family, and in Humbert Humbert's clearly predatory attempts to make her his own.

At the end of the book, we are left to wonder: where was the rest of the world as this single individual systematically betrayed a child's trust in the most dissolute way under our very eyes?

Suffice to say, Lolita has surpassed both my curiosity and my expectations. Disturbing, thought-provoking, so well-written I couldn't put it down... Lolita is one of very few books that has succeeded in turning the story of a monster and victim into a subtle, personal lens on the way our world works to hide uncomfortable truths.

A subject that is so very distasteful is infused with authenticity, truth and a subtle undercurrent of blame towards those who take the innocence and care of children for granted despite the existence of predatory, diseased minds among us.

I've come to the conclusion now that Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita is one of the best books I've ever read. Chilling, and written with power and perception, this is Lolita. If the subject is within your comfort zone - or maybe even if it isn't - do give Lolita a read. I'm certain it will be a book you'll never forget.

Book Review: 'Lolita' by Vladimir Nabokov

'This Rough Magic' by Mary Stewart - A Book Review

This week has been a long one, full of unexpected happenings and the tiring travails of moving house. Fortunately for me, one of those unexpected happenings was the discovery of a new, brilliant author! Mary Stewart, the author of suspenseful romances, was a gamble when I bought her book, 'This Rough Magic'. How surprised I was when I finally began to read it and was swept away to Greece and the island which might well have been Prospero's in Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'.

'This Rough Magic' (in itself a quote from The Tempest) begins with Lucy Waring's arrival in the Greek island of Corfu, a place rich in myth and tradition. Lucy joins her sister, Phyllida Forli at one of the three houses the Forlis own. The other two houses have been tenanted out, one to a photographer named Godfrey Manning, and the other to thespian Julian Gale. Lucy herself is a down and out actress who is in awe of Julian Gale but almost immediately on arrival at Corfu, she locks horns with his brusque son, Max, a musician.

While Lucy and Max's relationship is rocky at best, their interaction provides a stimulating background to the odd happenings at the island, with drownings and dead bodies ultimately leading Lucy to stumble on a conspiracy that might well cast Max as the villain of the piece.

Needless to say, 'This Rough Magic' is a testament to Stewart's mastery at melding together the two genres of suspense and romance. The mystery in the story did not take second place to the wonderfully subtle courtship between hero and heroine - neither did Stewart neglect to paint a remarkably effective portrait of the island with its patron saint, St. Spiridion.

It was all those little touches of the romantic (not romance, but just a subtle appreciation of aesthetics and beauty) - together with a keen appreciation of the cruel, the eccentric, and the sometimes just unexplainable quirks in human personalities - that brought the whole novel together so very well.

As I was reading the book, I couldn't help drawing comparisons between Mary Stewart's work and that of the more well known mystery writer, Agatha Christie.

The exacting, keen sense of deductive reasoning that that wonderful creation of hers, Hercule Poirot, embodied has always been a delightful feast for my mind, albeit more when following the old TV series than reading the books (my sis was more a Poirot reader than me unfortunately). Having just got off a Christie binge of sorts though (purely books this time:)), Poirot's stoic adherence to Reason was becoming a tad monotonous - which might be why I was a grateful recipient of Stewart's rich detail and lush imagery in 'This Rough Magic'.

Stewart definitely emphasises description over dialogue in her writing, quite in contrast to Agatha Christie, but her descriptive tone is often delicate and nuanced and atmospheric, inviting her audience to fully appreciate the surroundings she depicts without resorting to painting the island with an artificially exotic veneer (though there were some elements of this).

A different animal too is Hercule Poirot's genius intelligence when compared to the stumbling amateur efforts of Lucy Waring. Though Poirot's intelligence and skills of observation made him uniquely suited for solving those mysteries which made Christie famous, it was more relatable somehow to think in terms of the amateur Lucy, to have to follow a girl who was neither qualified nor inherently suited for solving mysteries, as she in fact solved the mystery in 'This Rough Magic' and unmasked the villain.

It was the lack of neatness in Lucy's detective work perhaps that was oddly endearing, and which made the story all the more suspenseful.

I followed Lucy's footsteps through the story as she tries to get to the truth of the mysterious and deadly occurences on the beautiful island of Corfu, and couldn't help feeling an enjoyable sense of partaking in the uncertain life of an individual walking strange paths in a foreign country - only to form within a sense of understanding and appreciation of such otherness.

Well, now that I'm done with 'This Rough Magic', all I can think of is the next Mary Stewart, and I have just the one in mind: my recently purchased 'Nine Coaches Waiting' is, er, waiting on my bedside table, ready to lure me into Stewart's imaginative vision and beautiful wordplay. What a gorgeous bedtime read to look forward to!

'This Rough Magic' by Mary Stewart - A Book Review

Short Story Collections Galore

From my last post, you'd know that I've been planning to upload reader-friendly collections of all my Amaris Shorts. Grouping the short stories by either genre or theme felt like a good idea. What I didn't think I'd be able to do was to get four collections up and running in one day!

Ouch, my wrist hurts right now... Make that my wrist, my shoulder, my neck... Hmmmm, I'm beginning to get more and more fond of the idea espoused at Joe Konrath's blog with respect to estributors and forking over 15% profits for an agent to handle admin tasks.

But enough grousing about my unhealthy limbs! On to the story collections...

Please be introduced to my very cool array of Amaris Shorts collections!

[Note: Prices for collections have been discounted for the Smashwords July 2011 Summer/Winter Sales Specials. Just key in discount coupons as stated before checkout for a fabulous deal:)]


Fantasy/sci-fi/paranormal short stories

Worlds Fantastic: A Collection of Two Amaris Fantasy & Sci-fi Short Stories

A collection of two Amaris fantasy and science-fiction short stories, ‘The Story-Catcher’ and ‘Amnipur’.

In ‘The Story-Catcher’, a girl accidentally enters the magical world of a mysterious wizard who might have his own reasons for her presence in his realm.

In ‘Amnipur’, an imaginative Amnipurian is at a loss as to what he can contribute to a copycat world built on the theft of other species’ evolution.

Sample or purchase this ebook at:
Amazon's Kindle Store
Smashwords.com

Of Magic and Mayhem: A Collection of Three Amaris Fantasy, Sci-fi & Paranormal Short Stories

With three Amaris short stories (‘The Story-Catcher’, ‘Amnipur’ and ‘The Devil’s Advocate’), this collection will entertain, thrill and confound readers. A girl stumbles upon a mysterious wizard; a civilisation persistently copies the worlds of others instead of creating its own; devilish whispers might persuade a willing listener to betray their better judgement.

Sample or purchase this ebook at:
Amazon's Kindle Store
Smashwords.com


Suspense short stories

The Therapist & I: A Collection Of Two Amaris Suspense Short Stories

A collection of two related suspense short stories. ‘The Shoplifter Never After’ pitches a therapist's wits against the guile of a client hiding the truth behind her thefts of random odd objects, in a psychological thriller with an unexpected twist. In ‘Dreamer’, a woman has an unusual malady that only a certain, rotund therapist might be able to understand...

Sample or purchase this ebook at:
Amazon's Kindle Store
Smashwords.com 

Dancing With Darkness: A Collection of Four Amaris Suspense Short Stories

A collection of four Amaris suspense short stories, 'The Shoplifter Never After', 'Dreamer', 'Junction' and the delightfully fiendish 'The Devil's Advocate'.

Sample or purchase this ebook at:
Amazon's Kindle Store
Smashwords.com



[Note: The above collections are available at discounted prices during the Smashwords July 2011 Summer/Winter Sales Specials. Just key in discount coupons as stated on the Smashwords page for each collection before checkout and you'll be getting a fabulous deal:)]

Short Story Collections Galore

A Compliment For Poetry? Who'd Have Thunk It?:D

I've been a reader for as long as I can remember. I'm betting I learned to read before I could even walk, tho my mum might dispute that:) But I've definitely been reading since forever...

I can even recall vividly the moment I completed an entire book in one sitting: in case you're wondering, the book was Enid Blyton's The Enchanted Wood.

I stayed cosy and warm on my living room couch, unmoving and absorbed in those black words on white paper, for close to half a day. And wow, it was amazing to get drawn into an absolutely different - weird and magical - world from the one I knew I lived in.

That sense of wonder and awe at the power of the written word to compel a reader to travel all over the Earth and beyond has stayed with me since childhood. I'm always surrounded by books at home. And somehow, as messy as it sounds, I find a way to surround myself with books of some sort or another when I'm at work.

I love reading. I simply adore reading. I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't read another book. And I really can't fathom how some people go their whole lives without reading books. Everyone's different, of course. But to not read out of choice... That form of existence is anathema to me, and would no doubt depress me out of my wits.

Now that I've got across my love affair with reading, perhaps you'll be able to understand why writing became my more obsessive love. Maybe I'm trying to reproduce the magic I experienced reading the works of others. Maybe I simply feel an urgent need to contribute to the library of fascinating, everlasting stories that the human community has been compiling since the dawn of all things dreamt and spoken. Maybe I'm a dreamer who enjoys escaping reality sometimes:) Whatever the reason, I write every day, even if it's just a few words on my blogs, and I never fail to enjoy the experience of dancing with language and thought each time I write.

I think that ever since I read The Enchanted Wood though, I've been hoping also that some reader out there might just find my writing as wonderful and enchanting as I found Blyton's so long ago.

This hope was more like a dream, you know - ie, I never really thought this would happen in reality. I've since been proven wrong, and gradually developed what I thought was a healthy relationship with writing and being a writer.

But - somehow, there's always a 'but', isn't there? - when I started putting my writing up as ebooks on Smashwords and Amazon's Kindle Store, all the old doubts crept back in.

I'd spend days wondering which works would get the most attention from readers, which would be the most attractive and enjoyable to others. What if no one liked anything? What if every single piece of my writing sucked big time?? (yes, I became a bit nutty at one point:D)

Whenever these thoughts plagued my writerly mind, I girded my loins (hmm, never thought I'd ever use that phrase in my writing) and reminded myself of the power of self-promotion:D Frankly, I thought my short stories would do far better than my poetry, and was prepared to market 'em for all I was worth.

But the funny thing is, out of all the works I've written so far, it's my poetry that's given me my first (four star) Amazon review:)

Given the wonderful compliments in that review - especially a comparison to Emily Dickinson that made me go numb with shock (and awe lol) for some seconds *still jumping with glee inside as I write this* - I've become more convinced than ever that this is the path my life must take, but I've also realised how insecure a writer I can be.

I didn't think I'd need validation from others, but that's obviously untrue, especially since it was after that review that I began to feel really good about the effort I'd put into arranging all those messy words into perfect, neat, remarkable little sentences. All those late nights and frustrated thoughts of never making it as a successful author finally seemed worth something tangible, real... something Blyton-ish in power:)

Hmmm it seems that, for this writer, validation from readers is akin to sweet, soft balm for the writerly soul:)

Whatever happens from now on, at least I'll always know that someone out there has read and liked my work. What a gorgeous piece of knowledge for any author to have at the back of their mind as they sit down to create beloved, intimate tales for others to read:)

A Compliment For Poetry? Who'd Have Thunk It?:D