Books of 2018: Part Two
Earlier in the year I shared my favorite books that I'd read during the first four months of 2018. Well we are now approaching the end of August so it's time to share my favourite books from May to August!
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Brave New World is usually described as a dystopian novel but for me that's simplistic.Huxley gives us a near future world where through the use of genetic conditioning and what is essentially brainwashing, everyone is bred for their place in society and is perfectly happy to inhabit it. When they do occasionally start having emotions they take the side-effect free drug soma to stop them.
Everyone compares this to George Orwell's 1984 though they are very different books. 1984 is about a government using technology to control its citizens for their own purposes. Whilst there's a similar idea here, the world controllers of Brave New World aren't really controlling the people to suppress them- they are doing it to make them happy.
For me, Brave New World should be more linked to Fahrenheit 451. Both depict a world where knowledge isn't taken away from the masses, it's just that the masses aren't interested any more. This is the part that feel uncomfortably real, with so many people caring more about reality TV than Shakespeare. In this sense, Brave New World feels horribly possible.
Daughter of Eden by Chris Beckett
The third in a trilogy (starting with Dark Eden and then Mother of Eden) telling the story of a population of humans stranded on a dark planet a great distance away from Earth.
This book is all about belief and the stories of religion and history. The people of Eden have passed down their history through word of mouth with different tribes passing on different versions of the same story. They've even developed a kind of religion, worshipping their ancestor Gela as if she is some kind of God.
Then when three Earth people arrive they share the truth of the stories and the inhabitants of Eden see video footage of Gela. They find it difficult to accept the truth because it's painful. A normal human on a video screen would never live up to their god-like view of Gela and the truth about what Earth is like would be like real religions discovering that Heaven isn't really that nice. In our world there is a constant battle between religious views and the truths shown to us in science and our stories have to evolve or ignore the truth. A really clever book which is almost philosophical in it's style yet still nicely wraps up the tale of Eden.
The Killing Habit by Mark Billingham
Detective Tom Thorne is assigned the job of investigating a series of cat killings. All police officers know that serial killers work there way up with animals and the worry is they have a potential serial killer on their hands. As victims are identified, Thorne with the help of Tanner must find out how they are being targeted and by whom.
Billingham really strikes gold here. Using a real life case as inspiration is a great idea but he turns it into something more. In the series we've seen to really disturbing and well characterised murderers and we haven't had one like that for a while- until now. A prolific and clever killer with a disturbing way of selecting victims. I was nowhere near guessing his identity either and when that was uncovered it just made him all the more unpleasant.
This has all the other factors that make the Thorne books so good. There's a dark exploration of real world happenings, in this case online dating, the dark sense of humour between Throne and his colleagues and the ongoing relationship with Helen which goes through a rough patch. Billingham deftly tells a serial killer story whilst still allowing exactly the right amount of room to explore other areas of Thorne's life. A really great read that I wish I could forget just so I could read it all again.
The Rats by James Herbert
I like rats. They are remarkably resourceful animals which can chew through live electric wires and survive falling off a skyscraper. I will admit thought that the idea of them becoming the size of a dog with developed intelligence and a taste for human flesh is deeply unsettling. That's essentially what the book is. A plague of giant, intelligent rats appear in the East End of London and start eating people. Local teacher Harris has several encounters with them but can he help the authorities to rid the city of this terror once and for all?
The concept is great. There's an element of zombie stories about it, what with masses of bloodthirsty creatures attacking humans to eat their flesh but it feels more real than that. We've all seen rats lurking in town centres and know how it was them carrying fleas that spread the Black Death around Europe. Horror is always more unsettling when it's grounded in reality.
The author adds an additional element in the novel by setting it in Poplar in East London, a poor area of the city. There's a feeling throughout the book that the events couldn't have happened elsewhere and the authorities are responsible by not caring for the area, not treating the poor like other parts of society. There's very much a political statement running throughout the book. I was reminded of the Grenfell Tower fire where 72 people were killed and like in this book, the authorities were blamed for similar reasons. It may be a silly story about killer rats but there's a serious point here too. A great, clever book which is well written and one that will stay with me for some time.
[Book of 2018: Part One]
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Brave New World is usually described as a dystopian novel but for me that's simplistic.Huxley gives us a near future world where through the use of genetic conditioning and what is essentially brainwashing, everyone is bred for their place in society and is perfectly happy to inhabit it. When they do occasionally start having emotions they take the side-effect free drug soma to stop them.
Everyone compares this to George Orwell's 1984 though they are very different books. 1984 is about a government using technology to control its citizens for their own purposes. Whilst there's a similar idea here, the world controllers of Brave New World aren't really controlling the people to suppress them- they are doing it to make them happy.
For me, Brave New World should be more linked to Fahrenheit 451. Both depict a world where knowledge isn't taken away from the masses, it's just that the masses aren't interested any more. This is the part that feel uncomfortably real, with so many people caring more about reality TV than Shakespeare. In this sense, Brave New World feels horribly possible.
Daughter of Eden by Chris Beckett
The third in a trilogy (starting with Dark Eden and then Mother of Eden) telling the story of a population of humans stranded on a dark planet a great distance away from Earth.
This book is all about belief and the stories of religion and history. The people of Eden have passed down their history through word of mouth with different tribes passing on different versions of the same story. They've even developed a kind of religion, worshipping their ancestor Gela as if she is some kind of God.
Then when three Earth people arrive they share the truth of the stories and the inhabitants of Eden see video footage of Gela. They find it difficult to accept the truth because it's painful. A normal human on a video screen would never live up to their god-like view of Gela and the truth about what Earth is like would be like real religions discovering that Heaven isn't really that nice. In our world there is a constant battle between religious views and the truths shown to us in science and our stories have to evolve or ignore the truth. A really clever book which is almost philosophical in it's style yet still nicely wraps up the tale of Eden.
The Killing Habit by Mark Billingham
Detective Tom Thorne is assigned the job of investigating a series of cat killings. All police officers know that serial killers work there way up with animals and the worry is they have a potential serial killer on their hands. As victims are identified, Thorne with the help of Tanner must find out how they are being targeted and by whom.
Billingham really strikes gold here. Using a real life case as inspiration is a great idea but he turns it into something more. In the series we've seen to really disturbing and well characterised murderers and we haven't had one like that for a while- until now. A prolific and clever killer with a disturbing way of selecting victims. I was nowhere near guessing his identity either and when that was uncovered it just made him all the more unpleasant.
This has all the other factors that make the Thorne books so good. There's a dark exploration of real world happenings, in this case online dating, the dark sense of humour between Throne and his colleagues and the ongoing relationship with Helen which goes through a rough patch. Billingham deftly tells a serial killer story whilst still allowing exactly the right amount of room to explore other areas of Thorne's life. A really great read that I wish I could forget just so I could read it all again.
The Rats by James Herbert
I like rats. They are remarkably resourceful animals which can chew through live electric wires and survive falling off a skyscraper. I will admit thought that the idea of them becoming the size of a dog with developed intelligence and a taste for human flesh is deeply unsettling. That's essentially what the book is. A plague of giant, intelligent rats appear in the East End of London and start eating people. Local teacher Harris has several encounters with them but can he help the authorities to rid the city of this terror once and for all?
The concept is great. There's an element of zombie stories about it, what with masses of bloodthirsty creatures attacking humans to eat their flesh but it feels more real than that. We've all seen rats lurking in town centres and know how it was them carrying fleas that spread the Black Death around Europe. Horror is always more unsettling when it's grounded in reality.
The author adds an additional element in the novel by setting it in Poplar in East London, a poor area of the city. There's a feeling throughout the book that the events couldn't have happened elsewhere and the authorities are responsible by not caring for the area, not treating the poor like other parts of society. There's very much a political statement running throughout the book. I was reminded of the Grenfell Tower fire where 72 people were killed and like in this book, the authorities were blamed for similar reasons. It may be a silly story about killer rats but there's a serious point here too. A great, clever book which is well written and one that will stay with me for some time.
[Book of 2018: Part One]
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