Behind with reviews as always so I'll get on and make a start with, The Sunny Side of the Alps: From Scotland to Slovenia on a Shoestring, a non-fiction book by Roy Clark.
The author, Roy Clark, and his partner, Justi, were living in the Scottish Highlands, enjoying the lifestyle and people but getting tired of endless wet, soggy winters. They want to move and decide on France but instead Justi gets a teaching job in Slovenia. None of their family know where it is and insist on thinking the couple are moving to Slovakia. Confession time here I 'did' know where it was but only because one of the Strictly Come Dancing pro dancers, Aljac Skorjanec, is from there and I had looked it up out of curiosity. For those who don't know it's an ex- Yugolslav country and borders Italy, Austria and Croatia with a short coast on the Adriatic. So with very little money off they go to live, work and discover Slovenia. Honestly, this book was a 'delight'. I knew nothing about Slovenia and learnt so much about the way of life and the countryside and the 'feel' of the place. Not all authors can do this but Roy Clark manages it beautfully, he even made me cry at one point! I fell in love with this clearly beautiful country, loved hearing about the people they got to know, the houses and towns they lived in, Roy's cycling explorations and so on. They took trips, one to Montenegro, another to the other side of Slovenia to where they were living and I felt as though I were in the backseat of the car with them. I would 'love' to go there now, to see for myself and who knows, I may manage it one day. Roy Clark is now the author of quite a few guide books to Slovenia and did also mention another book about their life in Slovenia, something about B&Bs. I went straight to find it on Amazon but if it exists I can't see it, which is a bit of a shame. A 'lot' of a shame actually because I'm still thinking about this lovely book. 5 stars on Goodreads and read for the Round the World reading challenge, under the category 'Eastern Europe & Russia'.
Lastly, a complete change of genre, and fiction this time, A Psalm for the Wild-Built a science-fiction novella by Becky Chambers.
So, this was nothing if not 'a bit odd' and it took me a while to catch on to what was going on. I gathered in the end that it was not a planet these people lived on but a moon orbiting a gas-giant. 'Panga' has been split into two sections, one for humans and the other bit to grow completely wild. I think there might've been some kind of ecological disaster, I do know that they had a load of sentient robots and gave them the choice of where they wanted to go and what they wanted to do and they chose to move to to the wilderness. So the main character, Dex, who's a monk, is fed up and decides to become a 'tea-monk', meaning he/she (Dex is gender-neutral) travels around the human areas of this moon dishing out tea and sympathy. It isn't enough, he soon gets bored with that after a few years and decides to go and search out a legendary monastery somewhere in the wild area. Which is where he comes across the robot, Mosscap. Mosscap has been chosen by his fellow robots to 'find out what humans want'. The two join forces. So, I gave this a 3 star rating on Goodreads, mainly because I didn't really know what to make of it. Yes, it has interesting ideas and is a gentle novella that meanders along in its own charming way. I liked the descriptions of the countryside. I liked Dex and especially Mosscap but found the constant referring to Dex as 'they' kept throwing me out of the story. I have no objection to it but my ancient brain just couldn't keep up, sadly. Somehow or other though I just wanted more from the book. Possibly it just wasn't long enough to really get to the gist of its own plot and I was left at the end thinking, 'And?' There is a second instalment out now,
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, which I assume will tell us more, I don't know. Will I buy it? Well these short novellas (about 160 pages) are 'as' expensive, if not more than, say, a 400 page book, so to be honest no, I probably won't be getting it. (Underlining my own stupidity I didn't realise
A Psalm was novella length when I bought
it.) I do have one of Becky Chambers' other sci-fi novels on reserve at the library as she does seem to be very popular in the genre and I'm curious. So, we'll see. As I always say (well, sometimes) 'Your Mileage May Vary' on
A Psalm for the Wild-Built and most people on Goodreads 'love' it, so I think this is probably just me.
20 comments:
Hi Cath, The Sunny Side of the Alps sounds like it would be a very memorable kind of read. I do like reading book set in countries I know little about. As for the SF novella, I doubt that one would be for me. Hope you are having a good week.
Diane: Yes, I love reading about countries I know little about too. And Slovenia sounds so gorgeous, I think it's one of those undiscovered countries of The Balkans.
I was waiting to see your review on The Sunny Side of the Alps. I don't know where I saw this book first (maybe here), but I thought it would be the perfect book for Slovenia for the European Reading Challenge, and I had no idea where Slovenia was. I did look up the difference between Slovenia and Slovakia then. I have actually read a mystery set in Slovakia a few years ago. I am glad you liked it so much. I will have to decide between getting an ebook edition (since it is so short, which is also great) or getting a paper copy.
I did buy an ebook copy of A Psalm for the Wild-Built just now, because it fits in my ebook budget and it is novella length. I see that you were not so pleased with but I bypassed some of the details. I think it is worth trying. And that 2nd one is very expensive, but I will worry about that when I see how I like the first one.
That sci-fi book really sounds strange, Cath. I know that science fiction writing is all about placing readers in strange new worlds, but this particular world is not one, I think, that I would enjoy investing much reading time in. And, frankly, all of this "wokeness" is starting to get on my nerves now. Probably why I'm reading older books a lot more this year than I normally do.
Tracy: I think The Sunny Side of the Alps would be perfect for the European challenge and a nice unusual country to tick off.
A Psalm for the Wild-Built is well worth trying, bear in mind most people on Goodreads love it and it could be that you will too. It's certainly a 'different' sort of read. I look forward to seeing what you think of it when you get to it.
Sam: It was odd. I'm generally pretty good at sussing out sci-fi novels but I thought this one was going to confuse me all the way through. I did get there eventually though. Like you I'm investing quite a lot of time on older books, showing my age, or maybe just indulging in huge dollops of nostalgia.
The Clark sounds especially interesting! I know very little about Slovenia, and it sounds as though this book really captures the place and culture well. And I do like that first-person experience sort of perspective. Glad you enjoyed the book.
Nero Wolfe was born in Montenegro!
This is a country and an area I know nothing about. Thank you! I will look into it.
Margot: The Clark book really hooked me to be honest. Such a hopeful, upbeat account of their move and the author was really able to convey the atmosphere of the country very well. It was also interesting to hear about the quirks of the people he met and became friends with. I'm hoping for another book soon.
Nan: Oh, really? That's interesting. To be honest I didn't realise until a few years ago exactly how many countries Yugoslavia encompassed. I think you would like this one.
You won't be surprised that the sci-fi offering just isn't for me, despite your thoughtful review. Also, perhaps I shouldn't say this, but the notion of referring to a person as 'they' goes right against the grain, as it actually sounds quite rude to me! Plus the fact that it isn't even proper English, as typically 'they' has always referred to more than one person, although I see the alternative meaning has now been added as an official definition. Ho Hum! Another senior moment?
We visited what is now Slovenia, when it was still Yugoslavia, a place called Kranjska-Gora, which is right up near the Italian border. It was our very first holiday abroad after we were married, so we are talking probably 1980/81. We wanted a holiday with lakes and mountains and couldn't then afford the Swiss prices and Yugoslavia was much cheaper. I can remember every meal in the hotel being covered in beetroot mayonnaise, which was their version of gravy. The department stores were a cross between a very early Woolworths and the set of 'Are You Being Served', with all purchases being wrapped in newspaper and no bags. Wherever we went the staff snatched money out of our hands, like one of those 'monkey grab' fair machines. The best shop in the town was the coffee shop, which was owned by an ex basketball player, who was just under 7 feet tall and had hands like shovels. He really was a gentle giant though and he could make amazing cakes and pastries! In fact I just checked out the town and our hotel is still there, although The Laryx is now a Best Western.
Now you have made me want to read 'The Sunny Side Of The Alps' just to see how things have changed! :)
The Sunny Side of The Alps sounds like the kind of travel memoir that I always enjoy reading. And I know very little about Slovenia, although I do know where to find it on a map. But that's about all. :D
Everybody seems to love Chambers' books. They don't sound like my kind of thing, especially now that I've read your description. I'll continue to give her books a pass, thank you very much!
Yvonne: Totally agree with all you say about referring to someone as 'they' all the time. Also the possessive 'his' or 'hers' was changed to 'their' and that also took me right out of the story every time it was used (a lot). I suppose we will have to get used to it but I sincerely hope it doesn't become something that's done in every book.
Oh gosh, thank you for sharing your memories of your holiday in what was then Yugoslavia. That was 'fascinating'! I'd forgotten that Yugoslavia was one of the more liberal communist countries and people could still go there for holidays, unlike Poland or Czechoslovakia for instance. I think you would like The Sunny Side of the Alps then as you have that connection.
Lark: This book will teach you a lot about Slovenia. And I think even being able to find it on a map is an achievement because most people would not be able to.
Susan: Yes, since I started watching Youtube book videos I've seen how popular Becky Chambers is with the science fiction community, whereas I had not previously heard of her. I have another one on reserve at the library and I'm hoping I'll like that one a bit more. If not, I'll have to give her a miss in future.
Just found your blog and adding to my reading list because I've read 5 out of the 8 in your February list so we must be a bit on the same wavelength!
Sue: Very nice to meet you and I've added you to my blogroll as I always enjoy finding new book blogs to read. Indeed it does look like we're on the same wavelength bookwise so I look forward to your future recommendations.
The Sunny Side of the Alps sounds like great fun and maybe good for my book group. I had suggested Hotel Portofino for a future month but just read it and it was quite forgettable - not a bit like the Durrells at all! Although I can see the woman in my group from Croatia would demand equal time - ha ha. I could not find Slovenia on a map (hey, geography was not taught in my youth although there was one year we spent a lot of time deciphering maps, oddly enough) but my brother spent a year working in Slovakia so at least I know the difference!
Constance: Yes, The Sunny Side of the Alps is fun and actually gives you a very strong sense of Slovenia which not all of these types of books do. Yes, I just read your review of the Portofino book, shame that it was so forgettable. Slovenia is not where you think it should be. LOL! I always thought it was north - Poland etc, but no it's very much south beside Italy and Croatia. Central and Eastern Europe are quite confusing and I 'love' geography!
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