Summer Reading
Just a quick round up of some good adult fiction reads for the Summer.
Vikas Swarup has a new book out "The Six Suspects" which follows in the same style of "Q &A" (made into the film Slumdog Millionaire). It's set in India and is a tightly plotted story with multiple characters all coming together on one fateful night. It's an excellent read, full of the contradictions of India with glamour and squalor, heroes and villains and an ending which types up all the narrative. Also new is Kirsty Crawford's
"The Secret Life of Husbands" which is a a classic light Summer read, with plenty of wit and wry observations. Another recommended read is "
The Reluctant Fundamentalist" by Moshin Hamid, which has featured on many Award lists. While it is a short novel, it draws the reader in, beginning with a conversation in which the main character outlines his life to date. As it unfolds, the reader is aware of a unspoken secret, which may or may not be revealed. An outstanding book, which is well worth a look.
I'll admit at the beginning of this review that I hesitated reading Oryx and Crake. Dystopian novels are often depressing one-note symphonies. They might start with an interesting premise, but then the same point is often hammered home again and again in an attempt to convince the reader just how rotten humanity has become. Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale managed to deliver tinges of humor and hope in the middle of the horror and made you think about multiple topics at the same time. I was hoping that Oryx and Crake would be in the same vein. To my relief and enjoyment, I found that once I cracked the book open, it was hard to put down.
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