19. Jean-Dominique Bauby - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

A short story this week by Jean-Dominique Bauby. He's the famous French Vogue editor-in-chief who suffered from the Locked-In syndrome when he was around 40 years old. He had a stroke and he fell into a coma. When he woke up all his brain function was intact but physically he couldn't do anything any more. He could only move his left eyelid.

In The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Bauby describes what life is like when you can still think and hear and see, but you can't do any thing yourself; he can't even breath or swallow without machines. He describes the frustration of having to be around his kids without being able to touch them or talk to them, while he has so much to say to them. 

The book isn't a literary masterpiece. It is however an emotional masterpiece. He wrote this book together with Claude, a specialised nurse. She pointed at letters that were sorted by popularity and he blinked when he wanted to use that letter. The book isn't long but if you can even imagine how much effort it much have cost him, it is quite impressive. You would expect a robotic story but it isn't at all, the way Stephen Hawking speak for example. It is a beautifully worded summary of what it is like to live a year locked-in with only your thoughts.

18. Sharon Osbourne - Extreme: My Autobiography

Some easy literature this week to give my brain a little bit of rest after the last few weeks of "serious" novels. Sharon Osbourne's Extreme: My Autobiography is good regardless of anyone's expectations. I know that most people don't think much of this loud-mouthed woman, but after all the stories I've heard I became quite interested in her life. We all now those stories about Ozzy biting the head of a bat and Ozzy almost killing Sharon. Granted, most of these stories are related to Ozzy so maybe I should have started with his Autobiography. However, a view from a third party is quite refreshing. Although Sharon's book peeked my interest in this bizarre family, so I might keep on reading.

It's hard to describe in this short blog what Sharon Osbourne has been through throughout her life. I don't understand how someone can be so strong when writing about Ozzy and her violent relationship, her horrible bond with her father, cancer, numerous burglaries and lies from people who she thought she was close to. The story about Randy Rhoads almost made me cry and a second later some passages make me laugh. Reading this book is like riding a rollercoaster. It's thrilling and exciting with a few stops and sad moments when it's already over too soon. 

All I can say  at the end is that I'm genuinely happy that her life has worked out the way it has, after all her misfortunes she seems perfectly happy. Good for her!

17. Carlos Ruiz Zafón - The Angel's Game

Remember how positive I was about last week's book? The book Carlos Ruiz Zafón wrote before The Angel's Game but which takes place after the events of this week's novel. Where The Shadow of the Wind takes your breath away in all the complicated story lines and numerous characters who appear in the novel for no reason whatsoever, The Angel's Game dulls the senses completely. 

It's translated by the same translator, Lucia Graves, so it's definitely not the language that's not great about this novel. It's still poetic as its predecessor. I can open up a random page and read a random line and it would still sound beautiful: "The train came in almost an hour late, a serpent of steam slithering beneath the storm" (Zafón 99). So if it isn't the style and the language. What is so wrong about this novel?

The story line! Like I said before The Shadow of the Wind is complicated, but it pulls you in. Also the ending makes sense. In The Angel's Game it doesn't. Remember that this book takes plays years before Daniel Sempere is born. 

It's about a young writer David Martin who is down on his luck. He is fired from the newspaper where he has worked is whole life. He is in love with a beautiful girl Cristina who is very close to his best friend Vidal. He is basically alone in this world. When his life seems hopeless he is approached by a man dressed in white who tells him to write him a book. A book which, like any religious work, should make people want to follow it. After he agrees a whole series of events unravels, which are too complicated for me to write down and I don't think it would help if I would try to untangle it anyway. The novel does not make much sense and it is long winded. Most of the characters die and at the end I still don't know why. And I don't feel like finding it out... I think Zafón should write a book that matches The Shadow of the Wind otherwise his four book series will be a complicated disaster.. 

16. Carlos Ruiz Zafón - The Shadow of the Wind

Most people I know are already familiar with this this book by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. I, myself, have read it before when it was just translated in 2004. The Shadow of the Wind is one of those books that literally take your breath away and reading the last line gave me goosebumps. 

Soon afterward, like figures made of steam, farther and son disappear into the crowd of the Ramblas, their steps lost forever in the shadow of the wind. (Zafón 487)

The reason I'm rereading it is because of The Angel's Game which has been waiting in my book case since October 2010. This is the prequel to the book I've devoured for this week. It is said that Zafón is planning to make this a four book series. And I fervently hope he will do so.


As I said before, I'm not a fan of translated works, but for Lucia Graves I'd gladly make an exception. She's the daughter of poet Robert Graves and she is an amazing translator. The way she uses words and plays with expressions in the novel is really exceptional and I believe it's a shame she has only translated two books, which are the two books I mentioned earlier in this blog.


The Shadow of the Wind is about a bookseller who takes his young son to a secret library which is full of abandoned books - The Cemetery of Forgotten Books. Young Daniel may choose one book which he has to keep with him for the rest of his life. The book he chooses is the book that will not only stay with him for the rest of his life it will set the tone for it as well. Daniel is completely enthralled by the unknown writer, whose book he has randomly picks, called Julian Carax. The rest of his life he will be chasing the story behind this obscure author who has lived a life not dissimilar to Daniel's only then with more intrigue and betrayal. While Daniel is on a mission to find out more of Carax' life, a maimed figure is lurking in the darkness waiting for his chance to get a hold of  this mysterious book.


The language that is used is fantastic and poetic. Reading it is a trait! I don't often reread books (apart from Wuthering Heights) but it was a pleasure to do so this time and I hope The Angel's Game won't disappoint.

15. Paulo Coelho - The Alchemist

As promised, this week I changed course (dramatically) from crime scenes to philosophy and alchemy in the desert. I've never read a book by the famous Paulo Coelho and I don't know if The Alchemist is such a good book to start with because it is quite childish and language use is simple at times. Also, I'm not a fan of philosophy in general and stories about the Philosopher's Stone and the Elixer of Life don't particularly excite me. 

I don't like reading translated books anyway. Coelho of course is Brazilian so he wrote it in Portugese. If anything I'd like to read the book the way it was went to be read. In Portugese... But I swallowed my pride and I succumbed to the pull he has over other people. Since this book "was originally written in Portuguese and has since been translated into 67 languages, winning the Guinness World Record for most translated book by a living author. It has sold more than 65 million copies in more than 150 countries, becoming one of the best-selling books in history." (Wikipedia)

The story is about a boy from Spain who has chosen to lead a shepherd's life and travel all around Spain to find new interesting things. He has a recurring dream about a Pyramid and a big treasure within this Pyramid. At first he ignores these dreams, but when he meets a King one day who tells him to sell his sheep and be on his way to Egypt with the use of omens along the way, he does. This novel is about his voyage and the people he meets on his way.

Not very enthralling and I don't know if I'd touch another Coelho book, especially if they're thicker than this short novel. I guess the only way to find out is by looking at omens and listening to my heart.

14. Ian Rankin - Strip Jack

This week it was time for another one of Ian Rankin's books, namely Strip Jack. This is the fourth novel in the Rebus series and I quite like reading these novels two-by-two. I feel that I've had enough of Rebus for the next few weeks, but after the third book I felt like I needed more.

Strip Jack wasn't that interesting. It's about a Scottish MP Gregor Jack who is possibly set up when he visits a brothel. Not only does the media catch light of this event, his wife also disappears. That's another task for Rebus who must work himself through a web of famous Scottish people and their friends. It's something different from the life-threatening events from the previous books. But it's still Rebus and he's still my favourite modern detective (of course Holmes is higher on my favourite detective list).

I will pick Rebus up another time, but for now I think I might leave the whole detective genre for what it is because I've had my fair share of it. Also, I'm aware of the fact that I'm late. I'm on a holiday in the Netherlands. Bad excuse, I know. I will try to finish the next book by Sunday.

13. Ian Rankin - Tooth & Nail

Not only was this an amazing crime novel (I might actually get addicted to these) it also helped me to appreciate Edinburgh and loathe London a bit more. Even though I was considering moving to London for a while, not any more. Ian Rankin paints such a horrible picture of it in Tooth & Nail that it doesn't appeal to me at all after this novel. Job well done!

This novel is about Rebus who moves down to London to help the MET police hunt down and kill The Wolfman. A killer who mainly focuses on women, he or she stabs his victims in the throat and then takes bites in their stomach. Due to his previous succes in Edinburgh the Metroplitan police reckon Rebus would be perfect for the job. He himself is not so sure...

The passage that speaks to me most, is the short paragraph about his books. I fully agree with him and I feel I have met a like-minded soul. 15 more Rebus books to go and I mean to read them all:

So many books. One man could not hope to read them all in a lifetime. He tried to walk through the aisles without focusing. If he focused, he would become interested, and if he became interested he would buy. He already had over fifty books at home, piled beside his bed, waiting for that elusive weeklong break when he could concentrate on something other than police work. He collected books. It was just about his only hobby. Not that he was precious about it. He did not lust after first editions, signed copies and the like. Mostly, he bought paperbacks. And he was nothing if not catholic in his tastes: any subject matter would do. (Rankin 154)