Last Evenings On Earth – Roberto Bolano

On first read, this book was promising. A short story collection filled with magnificent imagery and fluent, stylised writing. But, and whilst this seems like a small ‘but’, for me it is a huge one- a dealbreaker. Every story doesn’t have a proper ending. They just seem to fizzle out like an unlaunched rocket.

All that tension, intrigue and emotional investment simply disappears. It’s like giving a helpful member of the public some of your shopping bags because they offered to help you to your car, only for them to bugger off with your quiche and Asda’s own smart price bastard beans. All you can do is watch as the thief runs away with your priceless investments, disappointed that you’ll never see that £1.39s worth of “food” again.

What I’m trying to say is, every story ends terribly, did you get that from the previous analogy? The ending’s always lack closure. For example, in the title story, the protagonist goes on a sexcapade with his father, drinking and fighting his way through bars. This made for a fantastic story that kept me on the edge of my bed throughout. It ends mid-fight. Just…WHY? Why, Bolano, why?!

I find it so difficult to love this book because of that simple fact. His ideas, his writing and 99% of every story is pure liquid gold for the eyes and mind, but that liquid gold is just shown to be a steaming beer turd that rounded off an otherwise fantastic experience.

The Oldest Hands In The World – Dan Pantano

Poetry, is not a love for me. I have not grown up thinking about the world poetically, and nor do I write in poetic prose, so I wasn’t surprised to find out I didn’t really like this collection.

Of course, I can appreciate it to some extent, even enjoy it in some places. The 7th July 2005 poem was magnificent, but whether it is poetry is another to add to the age-old argument of what constitutes a poem. Whenever Pantano speaks about sex, he does so in way that manages to make it sound like the most enjoyable of sins steeped in centuries of bad press. His way with words is brilliant, but the stories behind the poems, the inspiration, never really appeared.

Some poems felt like they were written years before this book was even thought up of, a point confirmed by the man himself in a recent lecture by him. Some of the words made me cringe, mainly “succulent violin” when describing a vagina almost made my projectile vomit all over the book itself. Which would’ve been helpful, because then I wouldn’t have to read that ghastly phrase again.

Dan is clearly a very good poet, a very good writer and a very well read man, but sometimes his writing was a little too complex for me, leaving me in the dark for most of the book.

Lady of the Shades, by Darren Shan – Shantastic!

I’ve always been a fan of Mr. Shan; I say fan, more like obsessive hoarder of his works. In fact, Lord Loss was the first book I ever bought for myself, so he is close to my heart. I also got to meet him in May of this year, so I suppose I am biased in some ways, but unbiased in others. For example, the last book I read written by him, I disliked. Birth of a Killer lacked the grit and brutality of his writing and was, dare I say it, boring.

However, I kept my faith in the Shanster- and by God was I right to. I have only read one of his books for adults, which was beyond excellent, so was excited to read another. That excitement just grew and grew whilst reading it. Lady of the Shades follows the story of American writer Ed Sieveking in London, a man tormented by spectres who thrive on his fear and anger. As the story progresses, we learn of his past and how he copes with it, surrounding himself with research and stories. His life then begins to spiral out of control when he falls for a woman with an air of mystery, becoming involved with gangsters, assassinations and conspiracy.

It wasn’t a slow-starter, especially seeing as we’re thrust into an assassination straight from the off, but, as Shan seems to do a lot, it slowed dramatically in the second chapter. From then on, the drama and pace of the book increased very slowly but surely, until by the final chapter you’re practically being knocked off your feet due to the amount of twists and turns.  There comes a point when a book has too many twists and turns. Like a rollercoaster you want at least one straight to gather your bearings to prepare yourself to be thrashed about again not seconds later, but Lady of the Shades manages to fit it in lots of little twists that all build up to the one big, story-changing twist, a technique that I can only dream of replicating.

Lady of the Shades is farfetched yet believable, it is sad but uplifting, it is everything I hoped it would be. Each twist added something to story, whether it was drama, suspense or emotional impact – and combining these, you have just about the most incredible story.

Special thanks to my girlfriend for buying me the book for my birthday, and I know she’ll read this so – Alo dear. Thank you for buying me such a wonderful book…not that I asked you to…