3 Books

In between the various breaks we had, I managed to finish reading 3 books: Fahrenheit 451, M for Malice and The Prestige, in order or ascending enjoyment.

Fahrenheit 451: I vaguely remembered reading this before and seeing that it might be really relevant next year, I started re-reading it. Sadly, it did not impress me this time either. Dialog was clunky, characters were unsympathetic and unrealistic, seemingly floating around as symbols rather than real characters. The plot devices ( the Hound, the group of men Montage meets at the end) did not convince either. In the end, it's probably the provocative ideas the book presents rather than any literary merit that has boosted it's stock in the literary world. Metaphor overload too, though that may be why it's selected for the exams.

M for Malice. This was much better than L for Lawless; Kinsey investigates a family murder and the familiar trappings of a murder mystery were present. In the end, I thought that the ending was utterly unconvincing, inventing a motive and murderer just to fit in with convention. The theme of family politics and reinventing oneself was pushed aside to this banal need. Chandler's dictum about murder mystery novels being dictated by the plots rather than character held true in this case.

The Prestige: Some important divergences from the movie, noticeably the framing contemporary story, which was too sketchy and thankfully left out. The movie was much darker though, unexpectedly, with more deaths and family revenge.