Chocolat - Joanne Harris

Chocolat
Joanne Harris
Black Swan

When the new stranger, Vianne Rocher opens a chocolate boutique in the small French village of Lansquenet, it threatens the suffocating statuesque of the church as enforced by its cure Father Reynaud. Vianne’s plan for an Easter Festival further divides the community and escalates resentments.

Chocolat is an exotic tale of love, belonging and earthly pleasures. Harris skillfully weaves a tantalizing tale spiced with delicious delicacy and prose. It is a novel to enjoy unashamedly in a smoky café over a strong cup of Chocolate espresso and a slice of cake.

Female Chauvinist Pigs - Ariel levy

Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the rise of raunch culture.
Ariel Levy

There was a time not too long ago when women felt offended if viewed as mere sex objects. Having fought for equal rights, equal pay, we insisted equal respect for our intellect and opinion. It was the feminist movement and women all over the Western world felt empowered by it. Today however there is a rise of different women’s movement. Popularity of celebrities as Paris Hilton and Britney Spears has seen an increasing acceptance of women flaunting their bodies in an array of sexual poses. It is thought liberating, fun and sexy to show, press and flaunt as much female flesh as possible. This rise of raunchiness is not exclusive to our celebrities and pop stars. Striptease and pole-dance classes have gained incredible popularity over the past decade. Girls as young as 12 dress in micro shorts and revealing tops usually with the words ‘Princess’, ‘Diva’ or ‘porn Star’ across their chests.

In Female Chauvinist pigs, Levy investigates the rise of this new pop culture. Is it really women’s newfound liberation or a decline in the level of self-respect? Does attracting men or sleeping with countless partners make women more empowered or just cheap? Have we regressed to the dark ages before the feminist movement or is this a natural progression of our liberation and if so why have our men folk not gone through the same transformation?

Female Chauvinist Pigs is a fascinating study into today's culture; how it has given rise to this new phenomenon that frowned by our feminist mothers is embraced as the norm two generations later.

A very rude awakening - Peter Grose

A Very Rude Awakening

Peter Grose

In 1942, Sydney was a party town. Despite many Australians shipping off to war, for most Australians the fighting felt a long way away. The daily newspapers devoted more space to horseracing than to Hitler. Even after the Darwin bombing, and the speed by which the Japanese were advancing through South-East Asia, no one believed the Japanese could advance this far south. The party came to a shattering halt on May 31st when 3 Japanese midget submarines crept into the Sydney harbour. What followed was a night of mayhem that saw 27 sailors killed exposing the ill preparation and the lack of competency of Australian officers to protect against foreign attack. Expertly researched using archives and first person accounts A Very Rude Awakening is the account of the sheer luck by which Sydney and the Allied navy survived a major attack in her harbour. 4 stars

Brothers and Sisters - Charlotte Wood

Brothers & Sisters

Charlotte Wood (editor)

‘Your brother or sister, it might be said, is your other self – your grander, sadder, braver, shrewder, uglier, slenderer self.’

Despite (or maybe because of) sharing the same gene pool, our relationship with our siblings is often fraught with friction. At various times, we love and hate them in equal measure. We are fiercely protective of them one moment and ferociously fighting them the next.In this collection, Wood has compiled twelve short stories by individual Australian authors. In each (with the exception of one about an only child) the characters speak of the deep bonds – whether beautiful or broken – between themselves and their siblings. Because of the familiarity of the subject, each story has elements that we recognize in our own personal lives or the lives of those around us.

Unlike the theme of love in its infinite scope to hold one’s attention, reading repeated stories on sibling relationship was a tad tiresome. However, the artful assembly of this collection and the close proximity of its theme to our own lives makes it a worthwhile read. 3 stars

The power of Forgiveness - Janice Beaumont

The Power Of Forgiveness
Janise Beaumont
A&U

Beaumont, wishing to rid herself of destructive anger has set out in search of people who have harnessed the power of forgiveness to turn their lives around. The result is a self-help book based on detailed examples of her own and other peoples’ experiences.

Where other self-help books offer meditations or a step by step template the reader can follow, The Power of Forgivenes only gives reasons why one should rid themselves of anger. There are no guideline as to how these inspiring individuals have managed to turn their lives around.
Most chapters are far too short, often no more than a page and in most cases with the same repeated message: if we don’t learn to forgive, our anger will eat away at us and if not treated it will lead to bitter, pathetic personalities.

Initially I thought that this book, although well intentioned fails to offer any real help to the reader. After all we have all seen examples of destructive behaviour, what we want to know is how to rid ourselves of it. A month after however, I still find myself thinking and practicing its message. I can’t say I have forgotten or wish to reconnect with people who are nasty but I have stopped holding on to the experiences. 3 stars

slaughterhouse 5 - kurt Vonnegut

Slaughterhouse 5

Kurt Vonnegut

Vintage

Slaughterhouse 5 tells the story of Billy Pilgrim, a 44 year old optometrist time traveler. On the night his daughter marries Billy abducted by aliens from Tralfamadore, is put on display in their zoo, where he is a great attraction for the locals. So it goes.A POW in WWII, Billy held in Dresden works as free labour during the day and locked up in the slaughterhouse at night. When Dresden is bombed by the allies, Billy and his inmates survive the assault whilst above them firestorms destroy the city, killing 135,000 people.

My favourite passage is the movie Billy watches documenting ‘The gallant American pilots’. Watching the movie backwards, the bloodied and battered gallant pilots fly backwards. The German bombers help them by sucking the bullets out of their battered American planes. In return the Americans open the big belies of their planes and take back all the bombs they have dropped. The pilots climb out of their planes, the deadly chemicals are shipped back to the factories and buried in the ground where they cannot hurt anyone. So it goes.

Slaughterhouse 5 reads a cross between a science fiction and a meditation on the futility of war. The story of Billy Pilgrim told with wry humour echoes Douglas Adam’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy. A dark poignant undertone running through the book throws the spotlight on the human cost of war. At times moving, at times nonsensical and times laugh outloud funny, Slaughterhouse 5 is one of the most surprising and original novels I have read on WWII. It is no surprise it has remained a timeless classic for over 4 decades.
Poo-tee-weet. 4stars

Eat Pray Love - Elizabeth Gilbert

Eat Pray Love
Elizabeth Gilbert

I did not choose this book voluntarily, it was forced upon me by my bookclub. The girl who recommended it did so knowing I’d object to it.
A messy divorce followed immediately by a breakdown of a short yet intense love affair, caused a spiral in Liz Gilbert that ended in a meltdown. In order to recover she decides to go abroad for a year spending up to four months in three different countries: Italy (purely to indulge in pleasure), India (to live in a small Ashram devoting herself to reaching divinity) and finally Bali (to live close to an old medicine man who once read her palm). So far a clichéd formulae guaranteed to get her on Oprah – Oh wait Liz Gilbert was on Oprah!
I really thought it was going to be a torturous read with enough spiritual mumbo jumbo to irritate my skeptical mind. My irritation was further inflamed when I found out there was going to be a month’s wait at my local library to get a copy. Thankfully they had the audio Cds, unabridged and read by the author. From that day on I listened to Liz read me her story, one single prayer bead at a time. She climbed into the passenger seat every morning for our long drive to work and waited patiently for me to return in the evening picking up where she left off. She tells her story with clarity and stripped-bare honesty and happily, repeated passages I did not understand. She is gracious and respectful towards the countries and the people who are hosting her; thankful for the part each one of them plays in her long healing process. In each country, she takes care in sharing their folklore, myths and customs, revealing to her readers the heartbeat that is unique to each country.
I love this book. I am touched by Gilbert’s sincerity and willingness to bare all. Even though our life experiences are vastly different, I find myself agreeing and identifying with many things Gilbert writes about. My one criticism was with how much bigger simple experiences were described. I have travelled through both Italy and Bali and never thought the food or the locals were as amazing as they were described by this book. I guess that’s why I love books, it allows me an entry into another person’s world, lets me walk in their shoes and see their world through their paradigm. I am still going to be skeptical about books trumpeted by Oprah, but in this case I am willing to admit I made a mistake.