This month I did a random buddyathon with one of my best friends, even though it’s not the time for it, just because we felt like it and thought it would be fun (it was). These are the lovely books I read:
- Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke, for the challenge of reading a book starting with your buddy’s initial. This was my first Clarke book and I’m sorry to say it was a bit of a disappointment. I think I possibly had my expectations a bit too high, and the book was certainly different from what I expected. Whilst I really enjoyed it, I didn’t feel the tension or suspense that I think I was supposed to – I wasn’t in any rush to find out what happened next. It was still a good read and I had fun with it.
- The City & The City by China Miéville was our buddy read and we both loved this – so much that we were both texting “this is going to be a top book of the year”. However. I adore Miéville, I think he’s a genius who does really innovative things with his stories. This was a mystery novel with a really unusual and interesting setting. It was fascinating and gripping. But it was still a mystery novel at its core, and as things started to unravel I was ever so slightly disappointed. Not that it wasn’t a good conclusion, I was perfectly satisfied with it. It’s just the issue I always have with mysteries, when the answer starts to emerge I always feel a bit deflated. Still a thoroughly amazing book.
- The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas was my free pick. This book was definitely a ride for me. I had it on my shelf for years but was always kind of afraid to pick it up because The Count of Monte Cristo is my favorite classic. This certainly wasn’t that. It was a lot funnier than I expected but only up to a certain point. That’s to say, none of these characters are actually nice folks. At first this was surprising and amusing because it’s taken to a comical extreme and becomes silly. But after a certain point I was just annoyed. For me it stopped being funny when it started relying too much on “honorable men” being crappy to other people (but still being the exalted heroes of the story). That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it – I definitely did! The writing is still Dumas and really lovely, and it’s a fun adventure book. There was a big chunk there that I didn’t enjoy at all, though, and was just frustrated and not amused. The “romantic” exploits of these men didn’t entertain me, they aggravated me. Nevertheless it was a positive experience on the whole, particularly the ending, and will be reading the rest of the books.
- The Ocean At the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman was for the challenge of reading a book with your buddy’s favorite color on the cover (obviously blue). This book is one of the best books I’ve read all year and my favorite Gaiman to date (and I’m a fan). It was absolutely magical – both literally and metaphorically. I was crying on the very first chapter. Can you tell it had a big emotional impact on me? An absolute wonder of a book. I can’t even say more.
- Finally, The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie was the book my buddy picked from the three choices I presented. This was my first Rushdie and I was both excited and apprehensive. I remain conflicted. There were aspects of this book that I absolutely adored – it was very fairytale-esque, stories within stories, magic and wonder – as well as, you know, some of the awfulness that is in the older original fairytales. The writing is beautiful. But there are some huge sexism issues that I couldn’t tell if they were done on purpose with a point in mind or not. And, if so, I feel like it kind of failed? There’s a line between being historically accurate and using it as a springboard for such abject objectification that it drips off the pages into a puddle of gross. There were themes and moments I loved – of storytelling, musings on self, beautiful passages and gems of fables. But it was a bit too much, it got a little disjointed at times. I definitely want to read more Rushdie, particularly because the writing is so good, but I certainly hope the next book I pick up has a different standard than this one.
That’s all five books that were part of the buddyathon. It was so much fun to do, I think the best part about it was getting to share the experience with a friend, chatting about our books and thoughts, and, of course, reading Miéville together. I can’t wait to do another one of these sometime in the future.
Do share your thoughts with me on any of these books, and on reading with a buddy, I know it’s not something all readers enjoy!
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