Sunday 2 December 2012

My December Bonus!

As things are quite hectic during the week, we did a celebratory opening of the Sealed Pot yesterday over our tea of crusty ham rolls. We all had a guess as to how much our little pot contained and the winner was the big daughter!

She guessed £65 and there was exactly to the nearest penny £69.43. I must admit I was a little bit disappointed that it didn't quite hit the £100 mark but on the other hand I was amazed at how quickly those coins add up.
So we are going to put it towards doing something nice as a family. I have a little inkling about taking a trip somewhere nice for a little stroll, then pop into the cinema to watch the eagerly awaited Hobbit!

My weekend was quite a lazy one. I did take the dog out on a long stroll with my camera, exploring the  countryside and got some stunning photos.



I am finally feeling a little more settled in our new surroundings.
Till the next time

Tuesday 20 November 2012

November and New Home

We did it! We moved and although it was very stressful it's all forgotten now. We are all snuggled up in our box filled sitting room watching a film. Getting some rest and relaxation time together.

There are numerous boxes still littered around that need unpacking but we need to find some space for them first. It is going to be a looooong process! Things aren't looking so good on my November goals as I have slipped on the first hurdle! In all the hullaballoo of moving I didn't stick to my meal plans and subsequently spent a small fortune on our food bills. But this will be easily rectified by some smart planning.

I have enjoyed getting into bed each night wallowing in the familiarity of my bed covers even if it is in an alien room! I have also enjoyed sharing a little bit of Coleridge's world and feel so much more drawn to his poetry now that I know more of his personal circumstances. His link with the West country also draws me in and soon I am planning a little trip to walk (quite literally) in his footsteps! I did have this neat idea of tracing his travels from his birth place in Ottery St Mary to his homes in Clevedon as well as Nether Stowey and then hopefully in the summer taking a little camping trip to the Lakes and investigating the Wordsworth connection too. But alas, I found out that in between the West and the Lakes, Coleridge took an educational trip to Germany. I got a little excited at this prospect but I feel my family may fear I am taking this idea a little too far. Oh well I can leave Germany out for now. I am thinking of organising a fat busting post Christmas walk over the quantock hills with a handful of friends. I haven't decided whether to tell them about my current infatuation with the Romantic poet; I wonder if they would understand??

Until the next time, where I am forced to think about Christmas!

Thursday 1 November 2012

October here then gone!



October came and went. It is by far my most favourite month of the year, and this year it was extra special. Not only did we celebrate the birthdays, of which there is a few!! but I was lucky enough for my dear little family to celebrate my academic success too. We trekked the long journey to Portsmouth so that I could don the gown and grace the stage if only for a few short seconds. It will be one of those memorable events that will never leave me. I felt truly blessed that I had not only persevered but that my long suffering family had supported me all the way! I did hasten to tell them that this journey is not yet finished. I have another intense instalment of studying yet ahead of me!!! We will see how they all fare with that!! 



On to other matters; we have a moving date: next week! EEk so a lot of packing and panicking is ensuing but with these things they normally just progress, so it is sometimes a case of trying to endure, if not enjoy, the ride!

I have decided to try and make some monthly short term goals that will bring me some steps closer to the BIG ones. I find that it is sometimes hard to always be focused on those BIG goals because (well in my case) they seem such a long way off. So here are my little steps towards them for November.

My November Steps:
Financial:
To stick to the meal plan and shopping list, therefore keeping to the budget.
To overpay the mortgage by £300. 
To put £100 in the travel fund. 
To raise some cash from our unwanted goods - which will be slipped into the Sealed Pot!!

Health:
To take up an exercise class with a friend (who has persistently been asking me for the last month). 
To eat healthily and frugally!
To walk for longer spells.

Emotional well being:
To take more time to keep in contact with family and friends. 
To plan and organise my Coleridge expedition.
To plan our holidays for next year - big family meeting!!
To plan our advent calendar.

November goal just for me:
To read all of Holmes'  Coleridge biographies. 

*******************
On to my reading goals! I would like to make more time to read but I somehow think that since we will be moving and the house isn’t exactly a palace, I am not going to be able to create more time for this. However, I will try to read a book a month and I would like to work my way through the ManBooker prize short list for 2012. I was delighted to learn that Hilary Mantel won, again. I also have a few unread books on my list which I hope to plough through too. Hmmmmmm do I really need to sleep????

Till the next time which won't include this view any more. 










Friday 12 October 2012

Still here....

We have sold our house, we have committed to buying another, but we are still waiting!!
We are waiting for the solicitors to earn their keep, the estate agent is gleefully rubbing his hands together but here we are in limbo!! The days are shortening ever faster towards the Big C and we are tentatively removing pictures, wrapping up the heirloom china, all the while knowing full well everything could fall through!

So I am still here but incredibly busy chasing my tail! Bear with me, I will be back! Hopefully with tales to tell.....

Saturday 22 September 2012

Phew weeee!

Well this week has been MANIC! I am so so glad it is now the weekend! I am even relishing the thought of cleaning the house!

I have decided to wrap myself in Patrick Ness's literary genius once again and am reading his debut novel, The Crash at Hennington.  It is a familiar read as themes like sexual politics, power and greed which were explored in his later trilogy are also investigated here, but in an entirely different style.

I am also investigating one of my favourite poets and era's, the Romantic Samuel Taylor Coleridge. I have borrowed from the trusty library, Richard Holmes (award winning) biographies of him. When I have a large amount of time, the time that is free to choose what I want to do rather than have something or someone dictate what I do with it, I will lose myself quite happily in that world. I may even report back my findings or musings.....
Tintern Abbey, one of Wordsworth's famous poems

But until that moment I really do need to blitz the house, make coffee and help daughter with homework! That looks like my Saturday wrapped up!

Hope yours is as productive and relaxing in equal measure!
Till the next time,

Friday 7 September 2012

Done, finished it

I don't tend to be swayed by reviews, I try to refrain from Amazon's reviewers until I have finished a book completely. It avoids the spoilers. I really did enjoy this book. It was a bit of a beast at 833 pages long but it really didn't feel like it was that long. After I read it I realised that there really wasn't much of a storyline but Faber did such a fabulous job of entertaining me with his detailed descriptions - but they never once felt 'overdone', as sometimes Dickens makes it seem, and contrasting the lives of the rich and poor in Victorian London. I really do feel like I have experienced the story. For me the style with which he employed really did pull me in from the first line and he kept me in the palm of his hand throughout. I know (from Amazon reviewers) that some found it tediously boring, but for me I found it fascinating - I love the Victorian era. The ending was also a moot point for some but again for me I just knew that he wasn't going to conform; he left it very open. This didn't bother me at all - I know what happened to the characters, it's just that it is my version of the story and it becomes a talking point. I think that is the brilliance of this story is that you make it up for yourself. Use your imagination, surely that is what reading is all about.

I am a little bit undecided where my literary interest is going to fall next but what I do know is that I haven't finished with the Victorians - oh no! not by a long way!


Tuesday 4 September 2012

September



Summer is now just memories


It is all back to normal - if there is such a thing. Got up early to ensure I had time to make special breakfast for my boy who returned to school today. Will have to do the same again tomorrow for when the girl goes back on her first day!

My first day was good, it went by in a flash of an eye.... Have to cook the tea and start with the ferrying of swimmer to the pool - ah the joys of parenthood. It's not all bad - I am nearly finished The Crimson Petal so this would give me the chance to catch up on some reading and possibly pondering the possibility of moving house!!

Till the next time,

Wednesday 29 August 2012

It seems again that the summer holidays have flown by and we are all reluctantly facing the prospect of early mornings, homework and strict routines again very soon. Despite my renewed goals, I haven't found much time for blogging this summer - possibly because we had a PC malfunction and had to splash out on a new one! But also because I have been so busy trying to catch up with the things I planned to do like sort out the thousand photos into a scrapbooking album - only 5 years to go until I am up to date!! And I really wanted to finish my daughter's quilt which was for her 13th birthday but this autumn she will be 14 and sadly the quilt is still not finished! (I do dilly dally sometimes over simple decisions!!) I will have it finished!
We have also done some fun stuff too. The Olympics was a massive highlight for our family - we were glued for a fortnight to the action. We had tickets for the Millennium stadium and lucky for us we managed to see the Men's GB team, despite losing on penalties (AGAIN!!) we all had an enjoyable
time. Although trying to get out of Cardiff with 70,000 other people was a bit tricky!











We did our annual camping trip too, this time we decided on Cornwall. What a lovely part of the country that is. AND this time it didn't rain (much!) We were very lucky with the weather. 
We all came back with a hint of bronze about us and happy memories!


hmmm like I said, the Olympics had an effect!


Well our summer draws to an end, even though it hasn't felt like much of a summer again but I look forward to the new challenges that lie ahead of us. For it looks like there will be many!

Till the next time. 

Tuesday 28 August 2012

BOOKS read and still reading

This summer has been quite successful in terms of getting through some of the contenders on my books to read list.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 


My boy and I are still reading together in the evenings, although admittedly we haven't been too religious with it during the holidays but nonetheless we have got through the third installment of Harry Potter. They are certainly growing on me with The Goblet of Fire being my favourite so far because of the way she started it. It's a mammoth book though - which does put me off slightly as I find reading aloud does seem to take an eternally long time compared with reading in your head. But it is fun to share. 


The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke 

Perhaps not the best of Funke’s books I have read; I enjoyed Inkheart enormously as well as Inkspell, although couldn’t quite stomach reading the final instalment of the trilogy, Inkdeath. This book however contained some very interesting characters and a somewhat whacky storyline and despite the anti climatic ending was an enjoyable read. It carried me along quite nicely and was a light, easy read which plunged me in the depths of my favourite city : Venice. Funke is a German writer but I always find her style transfers very well to English. I particularily liked the portrayed relationships between the children and the adults, although the ‘wicked’ surrogate parents were a little contrived and far too stereotypical, but the close bond shared between strangers was intriguing.

The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber 

I am now on to the adult section of my To Read List, and my oh my, how very adult it is. I have to be very careful of who is reading over my shoulder! Sometimes I have had to sneak into the bathroom to read in private in case my flushed face may give something away!! It always astounds me how some books can wrap me in their worlds so effortlessly, whilst others can be a real challenge. This book, The Crimson Petal and the White is one such book that can make me smell the filth of London’s streets whist I am tracking the poor  but then can elevate me to the grandeur of the Upper classes in their stately homes. Brilliant so far, and only half way through. I missed the BBC adaptation of this book and hopefully when I am finished I may be able to catch a re-run of it, just to compare. Although I would wager my house that the book is better - in my opinion it always is!! 

Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

As a bit of a treat to myself, I bought a copy of Bring up the Bodies, I loved Mantel's prequel to this book - I wasn't disappointed at all. I thoroughly enjoyed this one too, but missed the very unique style with which the first one was written with. I know so many people who felt it was very confusing but I really liked it, once I got used to it. I do believe that this will be a trilogy and I can't wait to read how she handles the fall of Cromwell.

I am not sure what I will read next but at the moment I am completely enthralled in Victorian London so perhaps I will give Dickens a go and finish off the year with Clair Tomalin's biography of him, hmmmm that is an idea! Completely going off the list then - oh well as my daughter would say: YOLO!

Till the next time.  


Thursday 26 July 2012

New Focus - New beginning

I have been very preoccupied at the beginning of this year with my studies that I didn't have much time to think about blogging. However, over the last few weeks whilst adjusting to the fact that I don't have an essay to write or an article to read, I have been thinking about the purpose and direction of my life and blog. I have spent many a morning blog hopping, gathering ideas and inspiration from around the world! And I have decided to make this a record of achievements that we as a family as well as me myself, are working towards.

I have been undoubtedly affected by the enthusiasm and dedication of one particular blogger who made me realise and acknowledge my dream of travelling. Reading SFT's blog has rekindled my dreams and made me realise that with a little hard work I can too achieve not only mortgage freedom but the freedom to travel as well. My life's ambition was to travel the world ~ so I left school and went to work in a travel agency because this is how I thought I was going to be able to finance my dream! (How wrong was I??)  I fell in love and married him, we bought a house and soon filled it with two children. The stresses and strains of life overshadowed everything and before I even realised it, my dream was pushed onto the proverbial back burner. We would talk of life when the children grew up and the things we would do then - however, there is no guarantee that we will get that and besides, surely the children will benefit from seeing some of the world for themselves too.

Just after my second child, my son was born I embarked on a long journey and another dream of mine, to become a teacher! I decided to study part time so that I could also be there for my children whilst they were growing up. I have just finished my degree, and am planning on working for a year before applying for teacher training. I know that once I become an established teacher then we can seriously start reducing our mortgage and saving up for our travels. But I don't want to become too focused on the future and forget to live in the moment either, so I need to find the balance...

I have had immense fun putting together a list (I love lists!) of the places I would like to go and the things I would like to see. It is not exhaustive by any means and I am sure I will be adding to it more than I will be crossing off but I know that we are going to have even more fun achieving them... Have a look under 'Places to go and things to see'. 



Till the next time - enjoy the weather.

  

Monday 23 July 2012

Results!

I have been (not so) patiently waiting for my final result on the Children's Literature course I have just completed which determines my degree classification. Well, last Friday I was utterly surprised to learn that my result was ready -  two weeks earlier than I was anticipating. I wasn't sure if I was ready to know but before I knew it, I was clicking on the link and learned that I passed my final assignment with a Distinction but because my assignments were 4% lower I ended up with a Pass 2, which didn't really matter much because it still means I will be awarded a First Class. Well I would never have imagined in all my wildest dreams I would've passed with a First! I decided to abandon my New Year's Resolution of no alchol and celebrated in style, although bitterly regretted it the next day!!


I have decided to reassess certain areas of my life and blog which will mean making some changes - so until the next time...

Sunday 1 July 2012

Well normally I enjoy July; it contains my favourite sporting event with delicious weather which is normally celebrated with my favourite food: strawberries and cream. However, this year the weather has left me in damp mood, Rafael Nadal is out of Wimbledon and the strawberries don't taste as sweet anymore..... Harumph!

So this year I may have to find myself another favourite month..... hmmm ideas??


Thursday 28 June 2012

BOOKS BOOKS

I have been reading a lot of children's books lately and I am loving them. I have finished my children's literature course but everything I have learned  is still with me, everytime I read (any kind of book). When I was a child I was a voracious reader but not really of children's books; I disliked anything overly sentimental, so Winnie the Pooh and Paddington Bear weren't  my favourites. I liked reality; things I could relate to but growing up in South Africa meant that we were flooded with American literature as well as television which didn't really relate to me. As I got older and could read better and better I turned away from children's books (too childish for me!, attitude) and lost myself in some dark worlds ( Virginia Andrews and Robin Cook) and didn't really think very much about children's books again, until now! And now I realise how much I missed out! The power of books especially for the young is phenomenal - who knows where I would have ended up if I had only perservered with children's books.

I work in a school and decided to run a book club to shadow the Kate Greenaway Awards. As it is an infant school I chose the picture books for young children to look at with the children but also read what would ultimately break the record by winning both the Greenaway Medal as well as the Carnegie Medal : A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. The same author who only a year ago won the Carnegie for his final instalment of the Choas Walking trilogy, Monsters of Men.  The two books couldn't be more different but Ness's magic won again. The way an author can transport you from the life you live into the life of a character within a book by mere words on a printed page, never fails to astound me. I haven't come across an author who can do this as effortlessly as Ness does. He has a real skill for emotive writing but without over doing it, for writing simply but being able to engage you with huge themes such as death and truth. There was a quote I really liked which I was looking for after I had read the book, and whilst flicking to roughly the part of the book in which I knew it was in, I started reading everyword again and felt the pull of the book on my heart and before I knew it I was crying all over again and feeling like I had lost something very special to me. I did find the quote eventually, which is:
You do not write your life with words. You write it with actions. What you think is not important. It is only important what you do.
(A Monster Calls, P.202)

This is a book for everyone because it deals with something we are all going to have to face eventually, the loss of someone we love. A powerful story, told beautifully both in text and image. It is a real treasure and deserving winner, twice over! 

Friday 22 June 2012

Summer?

I have been gone a long while but the last few weeks have been a time for recovery for me. I completed my Hons degree at the end of May and have felt utterly bereft. It has been a strange time because for many years and certainly for the last nine months my life was consumed with reading and analysing and writing essays - then waiting for the results of those essays - reflecting and trying to improve which turned out to be quite intense, and then for it all to suddenly stop came at quite a shock! I got up in the morning, fired up the computer (it takes a while to get warmed up!!) then realised that actually I don't need to sit at it anymore, unless I want to catch up on emails or blogs. Then I would sort of wander around the house contemplating what I should do and what I wanted to do...
Now I feel a little better about my situation, I have picked up some of my unfinished crafts that I would like to finally finish ( like my daughter's quilt) and I haven't stopped reading either - which would have been totally out of character! I feel like now I have returned to the person I once was, so I am back to the world of blogging.....
Can't wait to get started on talking about some of the books I have read and am in the process of reading but that will have to wait for another day.......
Hopefully a sunny day.......


Monday 23 April 2012

Book reviews - long overdue!

Well I have been neglecting my blogging time lately but I have been incredibly busy with reading and writing essays and working and running around for my activity mad children too. Phew that makes me feel a little better...

Well my son and I have finished the second instalment of Harry Potter and I must say that they are slowly growing on me. We both have a copy of the third book (because I was out charity shop hunting and forgot that I had already bought a copy of The Prizoner of Azkaban in Abergavenny) so we take turns reading to each other which is lovely. (He even corrects my pronunciation and the little omissions I seem to make - ooops).


I had to read a book that was highly controversial in the 1990s called Junk and initially after reading it I was outraged that something like this could be published for children! I mean the way the author glamourised heroin was terrible - How could this happen?? But as I chose to write an essay on it and I examined the book more closely with the authors intentions I soon saw that actually he was allowing children to make up their own minds about what the character did and gave them the opportunity to explore the situation rather than preaching down to them. I am sure that if I had read this book as a teenager I might have ultimate respect for him for doing so, but as I am a mother of a daughter roughly the age of his solipsistic character, I was fearful that something like this could happen so easily. It certainly made me think and remember that young people (just because they can act a bit dumb some of the time) are actually entirely capable of contextualising and analysing information for themselves.

I have just finished reading Treasure Island  and surprisingly I have enjoyed it more and more as I have read this book. Thank goodness for literature courses because otherwise I wouldn't have persevered with half as many of them and been introduced to others - What am I going to do when I finish in the summer? Join a book group? Start a book group? Read everything I can get my hand on? Hmmm well I will have to see. I have the task of writing my last ever assignment for my degree, so I had better get on with it I suppose!

Till the next time,

Monday 19 March 2012

It has been a while ~ I have neglected my little bit of creative space partly because I haven't had the time and partly because I have been dealing with some dilemma that has arisen in my life lately. I am not prepared to divulge but it will be enough to say I have had a knock back - and I am picking myself up ~ slowly!

A few days ago I came across the Heather Small song again - which has always been an inspiration!
' I step out of the ordinary
 I can feel my soul ascending
 I'm on my way can't stop me now
 and you can do the same
What have you done today
to make you feel proud?'

I have been busy with reading too - of course! I have finished the whole Walking choas trilogy, Junk (more of that later!), Instances of the Number Three, The other side of Truth and A monster Calls! I have become a rather big Patrick Ness fan, which I know I have already said I am not a fanatical type person but I think Ness is the exception. I bought A Monster Calls because it is longlisted for the Kate Greenaway awards this year and after reading the Monsters of Men trilogy, I thought it would be interesting to see how he wrote for a (little bit) younger audience. It is so good - the illustrations are superb and I think he might win it. Even though I haven't even seen the other books in the category!

I am on the last leg of this long race that is my degree. I have spent many enjoyable yet frustrating years studying for an English degree whilst also being mummy and wife and the finish line is finally in sight. I have two assignments left (5000 words worth) and then I am DONE! I feel sad but excited too, because it is something that I have been working towards for such a long time! I am not sure how I will cope with out deadlines and stress over too many words but I reckon I'll be okay because I have a list of creative projects as long as my essay. I can't think about that yet though, I have to stay focussed on my next task.....

Till the next time

Saturday 18 February 2012

I can only reiterate: Ness is Genius!

Monsters of Men
DONE!! It was a gruelling read but oh my goodness it had me in its clutches that I just couldn't escape. The end was painful to read, I  had to keep stopping, steeling myself to be brave and hoping against what seemed like all hope that Ness was going to be gentle with me - which he wasn't - at one point I was enraged with him - how could he???? But then he redeemed himself spectacularly. I really don't like to give anything away, but all I kept thinking was I would never, ever in a million years picked up these books to read and do you know what, I would have missed out! Never have a set of books moved me so emotionally before - the style is simple but the themes are HUGE, a proper young adult book that some power driven adults would do good to read! I can not recommend these books enough - I was in awe from an artists point of view how exceptional Ness is at gripping the reader, making them question what they know and be utterly devastated by the events that happen essentially through words printed on a page! My heart still aches when I recall some things from these books - they will live with me forever! And strangely as hard as they were to read, it makes them all the more special! Thank-you Patrick Ness!


Friday 10 February 2012

Another Book Update

My son and I have finished reading the first instalment of Harry Potter:

We both come to these books from different places - my son has seen all the films which I have never managed to stay awake for the entirety of any of the films (not sure what that says about me or the films) ~ anyhow I was constantly being interrupted by his interjections, 'that's not what happens' or 'I love this bit' etc which did make me chuckle but it also made me think about the differing pictures we must've had in our imaginations. His were of the actors and the settings from the films and mine although I haven't been able to escape the films entirely was a real mixture of what I have seen and what I had to make up for myself. I have to say I really like making those pictures up myself - I think the films have robbed my son to a certain extent of his creative imagination - it is a real shame! It is my fault of course - I should have read the books to him before the films obviously! That brings me on to my next point: I didn't get the Harry Potter hype and to a certain extent I still don't but I am not generally of a fanatic disposition. (Things I like - I like but wouldn't spend days camping to get the next book etc etc.) However after reading the first one I did enjoy the story, being taken to another world and lived the fantasy of being magical ( only a little bit - like I said not fanatical by nature!) I think thats where JK Rowling really did excel and for some reason critics have failed to notice is that she wrote FOR children. The simplicity is perfect for children with emerging literacy skills and the story line is exciting and full of a fantastical adventure that nearly any child anywhere can relate to whether it is the unhappy home life or the challenging school life or maybe it is the escapist element of their happy humdrum life but it is clear that Rowling knew a lot about children and what they like ~ CLEARLY, and yet she gets slated for it!

We are on Chapter 3 of the Chamber of Secrets and hopefully we will be able to get through the next 6 books before the year is out! My son is optimistic but when I saw the length of  the order of the phoenix I became a little worried! I hope I am as enthusiastic by December as I am now - we will see!

Monday 6 February 2012

The Ask and the Answer {OMG}


OH MY GOSH!!! After my rather luke warm review of the first book - I feel a bit silly now as this book took my breath away! I hear the phrase, ' I couldn't put it down' so often, and have always wondered whether that is entirely true ~ I mean did you take it EVERYWHERE with you? Well this was a book that I literally couldn't put down - I went to work with it in my hand bag just in case I might get a chance to read a page or two, (highly unlikely! but nevertheless in it went) I took it shopping with me - who knows when I could've poked my nose in? As it came hurtling to the end of the book and definitely not the end of the story I read it while I walked from the car park to work and even drove with it on my lap, in case I hit a red light and would allow my self a few moments to read whilst I waited, (which I didn't!). It was a rollicking good, unexpected, brutal read! I don't like to give anything away because I like to read books without knowing what is going to happen but all I can say is Ness is genius! I picked up his final book with trepidation because I feel physically hurt by some of the stuff that happens and I am not sure if I am ready for the onslaught now - but I really want to know what is going to happen and more than anything I don't want to be disappointed!
The Ask is the best book I have read for a very very long time! I love the way it ends and then the next one picks up in the same time frame -  I hope Monsters of Men lives up to and even surpasses it!

Sunday 22 January 2012

My blanket - finished!

I am so excited! I have just finished sewing the loose ends in and feel triumphant as it is finished well within the time I gave myself. I knew that once I made the decision to get it finished I would do it! Well this one has been a long journey....

From simple beginnings to

a germ of an idea then into a

a fully fledged blanket!

 But then another germ of an idea forms: what if I could back the blanket and combine my two favourite things in the world TOGETHER.....
A quilt backed blanket or a blanket backed quilt???? At this stage wasn't sure I could pull it off ....


But I did! There are bits that I could improve but that will probably be for the next time! I have loved creating this little blanket that is going to adorn one of the rather shabby chairs in our camper. It was created on a whim and I love it!
Isn't it funny the things you can achieve by just writing them down!
Till the next time....

Friday 20 January 2012

The Knife of Never Letting Go - by Patrick Ness.

I did it! I finished:
I was thrown into the bizarre New World of Ness’s first novel because his last book in this trilogy won the Carnegie award in 2011 and thus forms part of my set reading for my course in Children’s Literature. Not wanting to limit my options for my final assessment I figured I had better get reading with the first two novels before I could concentrate on the final book, Monsters of Men. It took me months to get half way and days to finish it. I found the pace in parts slow although the praise that is heaped on this book in the first pages is contrary: “Ness moves things along at a breakneck pace..” (Financial Times critic). I found it sometimes repetitive and dragging its feet in getting to the truth of the story and so many times I was tempted to return it to the library so that I didn’t have to renew it, again,  but then it suddenly did pick up pace and became almost unbearable to put down – although I knew it was going to break my heart (which it did). I was glad that I bought the set for my sister as a ‘shared’ Christmas present so that I could start reading the second book straight away as it did finish on a cliff-hanger.

The style of writing is intriguing as it not written in standard English or with standardised spellings, ‘preparayshuns’ (p.4) and ‘cuz’ (for because P.5).

 ‘ “You can eff off, too,” I say, except I don’t say “eff”, I say what “eff” stands for.
          And I really, really shoulda looked round again. P.6

And then there’s the swearing which is always (except once I think) represented as ‘eff’ or ‘effing’, which I thought was good. I don’t like swearing for the sake of swearing in books but I think this really did help me to relate to the teenage character of Todd. The brave aspect of this book was representing what Ness terms as the ‘Noise’ which is the thoughts and feelings of the characters which can be seen and read by others and in the text of the book is represented with different fonts in terms of size and space on the page as pages 20-1 shows.

Overall, I enjoyed (that’s not quite the right word) the ending of this book and think it probably could have been cut down by a few chapters to get to the climax a bit quicker but who knows maybe there were details in the slow areas that are going to be imperative in the following books. I will have to wait and see.

I think that most teenagers will enjoy this book – there is violence, swearing, dangerous situations that remind me very much of the computer games they like to submerge themselves in nowadays, but there are also fundamental themes and questions of existence, identity, acceptance and tolerance which are subtly weaved through the story so that you are continually seeking for the ‘truth’. 



  

Friday 13 January 2012

Getting on with it!

Just a quick one to say that since my deadline arrived and the essay went despite it being in shambles I have taken some much needed time off from the 'books'. Just a glimspe into what I have been working on:


I bought these florally, old fashioned style fabrics ages ago and have only just got round to slicing them up and stitching them together. But it doesn't really matter how long ago that was - what is important is that I am now using them to make something special! Which has something to do with this little blanket that has been put onto the 'back burner'.


I hope to have the quilt made by the end of January - I need to get going if I am to achieve all my goals for this month!
Till the next time!

Saturday 7 January 2012

Peter Pan

Why o why is this little fella giving me so much grief?
I have an essay to write on Peter Pan which at first seemed very simple - Did I think it was about growing up? I have 2000 words when actually I could answer it in one: Yes! Well as literature essay's go this is not sufficient as I need evidence and as I start digging around I discover that I could write 3000 words to answer this question. Just when I feel like I know what I am doing - I read something else and think that is more important. Well, my only saving grace is that when the ticking croc comes for me (Thursday 12th ) then it will all be over, regardless of the content and amount of my words!

I really want to get this one finished! We are all excited about a little day trip we have organised at the end of January which is a little bit naughty - as it will take us to the big ol' smoke of London on a SCHOOL day. My children think this is great - I will hasten to add I have sought the relevent permission from headteachers! As it will be so educational they have allowed us to do this! I can't wait to see all those Da Vinci's in one place! OOOOoooooooo! But essay has to be done first! Better get back to it!