Book review – Cristina Sanders' blog

Nailing Down the Saint

Nailing Down the Saint, by Craig Cliff

Craig Cliff’s The Mannequin Makers was such a hit for me recently, I thought I’d give another of his books a whirl. Nailing Down the Saint sounded suitably quirky and it is, indeed, a very odd book. Lots of it I just didn’t get. So much of the detail – music, film, cultural – was out of my frame of reference so the nuances skipped past me. Wet Sprocket and heavy metal TOÄD, anyone? George Costanza’s answering-machine message? I didn’t look any of this stuff up, though it might be funny. And the story rambled on for a very long time without me ever really understanding whether the protagonist was winning, whether he was a genius or a sad weirdo, what the point of the story was. But you know what? I loved it. It felt authentic, in a way even the best New Zealand books seldom do.

The First Law of the Bush – book review

The First Law of the Bush, by Geoff Parkes

I asked my book guru for a book with plot. I’m writing the outline of a potential novel which needs a properly complicated sub-plot – the sort where a bloke does one little thing that he shouldn’t and things snowball dramatically to a killer twist at the end. Not my usual type of writing, or reading for that matter.
“Read The First Law of the Bush,” said Phil. So I did.

The Mannequin Makers – book review

The Mannequin Makers, by Craig Cliff

I’m always delighted when I find a terrific New Zealand historical fiction from the past that I’ve missed. The Mannequin Makers was published in 2013 by Penguin and now on my list of top NZ hist fict to recommend. This is no sweeping saga of real events, rather a strange small town rivalry that mostly takes place in a shop window. With mannequins. Sounds quirky? Well, yes, in the sense that the story is unconventional and miles away from the usual immigrant saga, but it thankfully misses all the usual shit that comes with ‘quirky’, there is no manufactured cheesiness or forced charm, no ‘found family’ of misfits. Craig Cliff soars above all that.

Caledonian Road

Caledonian Road, by Andrew O’Hagan

Well, I’m glad that’s over. I took up the challenge of Caledonian Road on the advice of a writer I admire tremendously and who shall remain nameless and cast into the darkness where people who recommend painful books live. Caledonian Road goes on for six-hundred-and-forty pages, robbing me of time I could have spent with a more enjoyable book. I thought it might be one of those stories that will suddenly click as the characters step off the page and beseech me to care about them. Didn’t happen. So why is it on my recommended reading list?

Alias Grace – book review

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

Wow. This is a hell of a book. Designed to throw you off balance and make you think, chapter after dense chapter of revelations that leave you uncomfortably challenging your assumptions and prejudices. Those weird Victorians and their strange ‘scientific’ beliefs – right on the cusp of modern thinking and at the same time waaay back in the Dark Ages. Well? Do you believe that sweet Grace Marks brutally murdered her master and the housekeeper?

The Correspondent – book review

The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans

Sybil is a retired judge’s clerk, slightly cranky and opinionated, but oh! so open to change, eventually. She likes to express herself in conversation by writing, and keeps up long dialogues with friends, colleagues, family and others through correspondence – mostly hand written letters, occasionally emails. There’s something wonderful about conversations by letter; the thoughtful choice of topic, the chance to think before speaking, and the opportunity to finish each train of thought without interruption. The whole book is made up of these missives to and from Sybil Van Antwerp, all pithy and interesting, gradually outlining a hole in the heart of her story. There’s a disintegrated family at the bones of all this, things lost between her daughter, her husband, her son.

Revenge and Rabbit Holes

Revenge and Rabbit Holes by Mandy Hager

I reviewed Mandy Hager’s Strays & Waifs as part of the great Kapiti fiction theme – there are so many good reads coming from that stretch of coast. Something in the wind, perhaps. Strays was the first gutsy read in the series ‘Chasing Ghost Mysteries’, now followed by book two, Revenge and Rabbit Holes, which again, is a mix of thriller, mystery/crime plus ghost story, with a healthy dollop of Mandy Hager’s signature ‘fight for what’s right’ theme. I like a book that’s high on entertainment but still manages to have decency anchored in its body.

Cloud Cuckoo Land – book review

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

It took me a couple of attempts to get into Cloud Cuckoo Land, and I feel no shame in giving up initially after the first few chapters because there are half a dozen seemingly unrelated stories going forward or backward in different times and vastly different locations. If you want a put-down-and-pick-up story, this is not the right book for now. I came back with more patience, reread from the start and was slowly hooked. It’s absolutely worth the effort, but…
I’ll explain.

The Loneliness of Sonia & Sunny – book review

The Lonliness of Sonia & Sunny, by Kiran Desai

The waiter brought them a parade of dishes: a mineral-smelling broth, a barely set delicate custard perfumed with chrysanthemum, bright roe that burst marine between their teeth, pickled autumn roots. How lovely. There is a lot about food in this story and if you enjoy Indian cooking you are in for a treat. There is a lot about a lot of things in Sonia & Sunny, so settle in for a long read. It is a very Indian story, and by that I mean in the fine tradition of introducing you, in great detail, to the long back stories of every member of every character’s extended family, with all the hints of corruption and family estrangements, overheard conversations and unanswered questions and the quirky personalities of all the uncles. The food is not only looked at, but smelled and tasted and each dish’s history is unravelled and the knowledge of who makes the best kebabs in the neighbourhood is shared, who taught them. Who stole the cook deserves a sub-plot all of its own. Perhaps it is impossible to write a short story about India. You can’t really dip in and get a feeling of the place. It’s full immersion or nothing.

Writers & Lovers, Heart the Lover – book reviews

Heart the Lover, and Writers & Lovers, by Lily King

These are a pair of gorgeous stories about a woman growing up and her various boyfriends. Yes, it’s a love story, but not in the ‘trope’ sense (and God knows why anyone would read a ‘trope’). Straight away you know you’re in clever hands by the way King describes a character by the clutter in his garage: ‘…all the crap Adam has in here: old strollers, high chairs, bouncy seats, mattresses, bureaus, skis, skateboards, beach chairs, tiki torches, foosball. His ex-wife’s red minivan takes up the rest of the space.’ You know the guy already. Of her mother: “we talked on the phone, talked for hours sometimes. We’d pee and paint our nails and make food and brush our teeth.” You’re right there with the characters, in the scene. I made copious notes from these books in case someday I get to teach a writing class on character .

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