About the English Upper Class

We all have topic that we are especially fond of reading about and one of my favourite topics is the English upper classe. Why, you ask? I have no idea - but I have an odd attraction to reading about these wellie-wearing, tweed-clad, labrador-petting people. If you share my fascination, you're likely to enjoy these novels: 

"Snobs" by Julian Fellowes

"Past Imperfect" by Julian Fellowes

"The Shooting Party" by Isabel Colegate

"My Last Duchess" by Daisy Goodwin

"Brideshead Revisited" by Evelyn Waugh

"Palladian" by Elizabeth Taylor (no, not that Elizabeth Taylor)

"The Pursuit of Love" by Nancy Mitford

Top Ten Tuesday: Endings that made you go "What?!?"

I haven't done a Top Ten Tuesday for a while and have to admit I missed it. So here we go - thanks to The Broke and the Bookish for facilitating this great game!

Today's topic.... endings that left me open-mouthing going "What happened?!?!"

10) "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
So unexpected - and it makes it so much more than a love story!

9) "Changeless" by Gail Carriger
I was completely dumbfounded by the ending of this one and actually rather annoyed with the situation. As I remember it, my immediate reaction was "Men!!" in a very grumpy tone of voice

8) "Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman
I am not even sure why but this ending really surprised me. In a good way. And if you haven't read this book, you must. It is really really good.

7) "The Collector" by John Fowles
I am not sure what I expected from this book in terms of ending but certainly not this. Loved it once I got over my initial surprise

6) "The Pearl of the Soul of the World" by Meredith Ann Pierce
I was quite young when I first read the Darkangel trilogy and I was really disappointed with the ending. Guess I was a bit of a romantic then - or at least more romantic than now. Because now I think it is the perfect ending - surprising but perfect.

5) "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
All I can say is that I was very very happy that I had already bought book three and could start on it immediately. Otherwise I might have gone crazy trying to figure it all out.

4) "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro
I won't say anything other than: Things are not what they seem.

3) "A Handful of Dust" by Evelyn Waugh
Definitely not a feel-good ending. I was completely taken by surprise when I read it - hadn't seen it coming. Until the last page I was hoping for a happy ending...

2) "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
Not only was I extremely surprised but I was also a little (tiny) bit angry at the author for letting this happen and very very sad. Think I even cried. One of the things I love about the Harry Potter series is that sometimes sad and bad things happen to good people and it affects not only the characters in the story but also the reader.

1) "A Discovery of Witches" by Deborah Harkness
I didn't know that this was the first book in a trilogy and at first I was furious with the author for leaving such a cliff hanger. Then I googled the book to find out if others felt the same way and found out that there was more to come. So now I am waiting excitedly for the next book as I absolutely love "A Discovery..."

Top Ten Tuesday: Dazzling Debuts

Right so after a few intense working weeks with lots of traveling and on the homefront lots of ilness (why do those things happen at the same time? Flying with a migraine is very very unpleasant...)
Things seem to be going better now and what better way to celebrate that than to participate in today's Top Ten Tuesday?
This fantastic meme was created at The Broke and The Bookish - http://www.brokeandbookish.blogspot.com/ - a blog that you must visit!

This weeks subject is Favourite debut novels (from any author, any year). I have not included one-hit-wonders because that just didn't feel fair...
Here we go:

10) Evelyn Waugh: Decline and Fall
Satirical and extremely funny, making a fool of almost every character in the book, Waugh somehow manages to make this more than a comedy. A great reminder of all the trouble, naivety, pretentioness, laziness and greed can get you into.

9) Tamora Pierce: Alanna: The First Adventure
Pierce demonstrated from this first novel about Alanna and the kingdom of Tortall that she has a gift for making fantasy worlds come to life. From this book onwards the world of Alanna, her friends and family become better and better.

8) Alan Warner: Movern Callar
I think cool is the word to describe this novel about Morvern, a Scottish girl who steals her dead boyfriends unpublished novel and goes on a lifechanging journey.

7)Martin Amis: The Rachel Papers
Have just read this one and will review it this week. A really good novel about a teenage guy who falls in love or becomes infatuated with the slightly older and infintely more sophisticated Racel.

6) Dodie Smith: I Capture the Castle
A magical coming-of-age tale about Cassandra and her bohemian family. Smith later wrote "101 Dalmatians" and I still feel cheated that she did not write more.

5) F Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby
More of a literary institution than a novel really. This book came to define an age and I think almost everyone who have taken a literature class has heard about it.


4) Michel Faber: Under the Skin
A seriously scary and uncomfortable read that nonetheless is fascinating and hard to put down. My stomach still turns when I think about it...

3) Karen Blixen: Seven Gothic Tales
Originally published under the name Isak Dinesen to disguise the gender of the author, this collection of short stories is a masterpiece from one of the greatest storytellers ever!

2) J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
From the very first HP novel, Rowling had her Hogwarts universe created down to the very last hair on Dumbledore's head. The magic began in this book which certainly did not seem like the work of a beginner!

1) Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility
This one is defitnitely one of the best debut novels ever. Full of emotions with enchanting, real characters and a great plot. The strength of this novel is the characters and many authors can only dream of bringing to life characters with as much skill and charm as Austen does in this her debut novel.

So which ones are your favourite debut novels of all times?

Review: "Decline and Fall" - A Satiric Tour de Force

Evelyn Waugh is one of my favourite authors, his literary fiction is of an exceptional standard, his language is gripping and beautiful and his storylines are unique. Waugh had a way of pointing out the ironies in society, satirising people and situations and shedding light on follies.

"Decline and Fall" had been on my TBR list for a good long while and this week I finally managed to read it. And I have to say that I am so glad I did. This is a work of art, a funny satire about one man's unintentional stumbling road through life. Paul Pennyfeather is studying theology at Oxford but is sent down from university in disgrace though this is by no means his own fault. Penniless Pennyfeather takes on a job as a teacher at Llanabba, a public school in Wales run by a staff of little competence and a great many oddities. Here he forms a friendship with one of the students, Peter Beste-Chetwynde, whose mother Margot Beste-Chetwynde (pronounced beast-cheating) he is hopelessly in love with.
SPOILER ALERT!
Paul's happiness therefore seems secured when Margot ask her to tutor Peter in the vacation and he ends up engaged to her. However, Margot Beste-Chetwynde is not what she seams, she runs a brothel business and though Paul knows nothing about this he ends up getting arrested on the morning of their wedding. Then follows months in prison, something which becomes him well, however, he is saved by Margot's new fiancee and her lover and Paul ends up back at Oxford whereby the circle comes to a close.

This plot is so dramatic, so full of events but what is captivating is the fact that Paul has no hand in these events. He is simply carried by the waves of life through all these events. He takes no decisions himself, chooses nothing for himself. He is an anti-hero if there ever was one. A sad excuse for a man. But reading about him and all of the hopeless situations he has to go through is very entertaining.
The satire shows of the idiocies of mankind, it is a great comic masterpiece that will have you laughing not with Paul but at him and his many troubles. He is a character to you despair of but at the same time you cheer him on and Waugh's ability to make me feel compassion and understanding for this ridiculous little man is fascinating. If you like P.G. Wodehouse, this is definitely a book for you!

It's a cover up!

Don't judge a book by its cover and all that... I know but how often are you attracted to a book just because something about the cover is really pretty/ugly/different/cool? I know that I often pick up a book just because I'm drawn in by the cover. So here are a few of my favourite covers:

Marisha Pessl: "Special Topics in Calamity Physics"

Margaret Atwood: "The Blind Assassin"

Evelyn Waugh: "Black Mischief"

Chuck Palahniuk: "Snuff"

F. Scott Fitzgerald: "Tales of the Jazz Age"

Which covers are your favourites?