vighnesh's reviews
389 reviews

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I want you to imagine the scene I'm going to describe to you. There's a woman driving, she's driving aimlessly without much active thought as to where she's going. As such, she begins to think of her past and so begins Never Let Me Go.

he narrator, Kathy, is recounting her childhood in a stream of consciousness manner, of growing up in Halisham School in the English countryside. The story follows her and her friends Ruth and Tommy that as the story progresses, begin to realise that their idyllic childhood isn't all what it seems and the tragic future that awaits them in this gothic, darkly skewed version of England. 

Kathy is trying to recount the memories of her past. However, its almost like looking through a dirty window, the image is unclear. As the reader we too are not fully aware of the context, we are thrown straight into Halisham and it is only as the novel progresses and Kathy attempts to come to terms with her past that we the window begins to clean itself, and the image becomes clearer. 

This approach to storytelling is deeply nuanced, as it not only keeps the reader engaged, as you hope to have many of your questions answered but it also illustrates how memory can be foggy, and not linear, with other memories cropping up as you're recounting a certain memory. 

However, Kazuo Ishiguro exerts a masterful control manages as he somehow manages to connect these tangents to form a coherent narrative, all while keeping the reader engaged as he drops hints that all isn't what it seems to be.

I found his discussion of friendships refreshing through Kathy's friendship with Ruth. It is clearly not a healthy friendship, Kathy idolises Ruth, who is the "cool" girl at Halisham. It's clear that Ruth is not a good person as ambiguous as that term is, and Kathy is aware of that. I think what Ishiguro does well is that through their friendship he shows the reader a realistic situation where you can hate a person, but love them at the same time. 

He encapsulates yearning and eventually anguish, when looking at Kathy's relationship with Tommy. Ishiguro seems to be telling the reader to not wait, for what is a life of anguish, we should act now so we do not regret in the future, for that moment is lost and future attempts of rekindling will never feel the same. 

I felt that throughout the novel, he discusses the concept of life and mortality and how we all live these rich and intricate lives. When the book reaches its climax, I felt it really drove home the point that we should live our lives to its fullest and to not leave anything for the end. 

An overarching message of this novel, is how people's perspective on the value of our lives can be different largely because there are assumptions that we are less than, especially appliclable to marginalised communities. Ishiguro dispels such a narrative through this story, showing how Kathy and her friends are just as human as the rest of us, they can love and hate and they can form emotional relationships too.

A gripping narrative with a dark undertone, Ishiguro cemented himself as a masterful storyteller with Never Let Me Go. I am keen to read his other works and learn what other intriguing narratives he has written.

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Bee Sting follows an ordinary family of 4 in a small-town in Ireland. Throughout the story, we explore the inner- lives of all 4 family members, Cass, a teenage girl, PJ, her younger brother and Imelda and Dickie, their parents. It is a story spanning decades and we spend a long time with each character, alternating between the past and present, and towards the end each perspective gets shorter and shorter, eventually we’re jumping between perspectives each sentence and it culminates into a fitting climax. 

Its about how we all have these rich inner lives that only we are privy too, how the perceptions of the ones closest to us can be so different to the truth but ultimately, its this beautiful story of loving yourself and loving each other. 

I think it’s best to not know much about it before reading it and allow yourself to be fully immersed in the story.

I think what I loved the most was how Paul Murray discusses perspective as a concept and subverts it in so many ways. This family, from the outside seems boringly ordinary. Within the family, each member views the other differently to who they actually are. The stylistic and creative choices made were so different but enhanced the story and made it so rich. 

Paul Murray has so much control with this story and paces it so well. We spend so much time with e ach character, adding so much depth to them and really connecting the reader and getting us invested into their story and their lives. 

The stylistic choices made to deepen the voice of each character was so smart. For example, when we’re in Imelda’s perspective, there are no full stops.

This may be my favourite book of the year. Paul Murray is a master in storytelling, he has such control with his writing. The Bee Sting is an intentional, well-crafted story on how we all have these rich inner lives, how our stories are all interconnected and ultimately how we should just love. 

The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

This is not just a love story, but also a story of war, the trauma it inflicts on generations. It is also an ode to nature and how we need to protect and preserve our environments. However, that doesn’t nearly encapsulate everything that The Island of Missing Trees is.

It is compelling and makes you ponder. 

The writing is lyrical, the world is painted with deep, rich colours, the image is fully formed in your head.  

The most intriguing aspect of this book was its choice to use a fig tree as a narrator. I found it to be such an intelligent choice because it allows for Shafak to share her thoughts on humans, nature, war and life in general in a creative way. 

Cyprus breathes through the book. You can almost feel it with the descriptions.

While I felt that the book dragged at times, I was engaged for most parts and I found it hard to put down. 

The Island of Missing Trees is a brilliantly crafted story that tells us to love the world we inhabit, the people in it, the ground we walk on and the (fig) trees around us.

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is a letter from the main character Little Dog to his mother. He talks about his childhood, growing up in America as a first-generation immigrant from Vietnam. He discusses how the war has affected his family and how he too is a product of the war. He talks about his coming of age, exploring sexuality and love and masculinity. This book is basically this boy telling his mother everything he wishes to tell her. 

To describe this book as one-of-a-kind is an understatement. While I have encountered books discussing similar themes no one has written a story the way Ocean Vuong has. His roots as a poet are very visible throughout the novel and makes for a beautiful, beautiful read.

The ability to string words together, craft sentences that carry so much feeling and move you, I believe is what makes for a great author. Ocean Vuong does this on every single page. I am in awe of his talent. I have yet to encounter a writer like him.

This is a book where you can discorver something new each time you read it. It is that layered with meaning and full of depth. 

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a poignant, lyrical masterpiece told in the most original way. I am grateful to live in a time where such writers exist, and are writing. This isn’t a dying craft, it’s thriving in pens wielded by people like Vuong.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Small Things Like These is set in a small Irish town during Christmas of 1985. It follows Furlong, a coal and timber merchant and his life and encounters during the festive season.

Just over a 100 pages, this book economically shines light on the Magdalen laundries in Ireland, where young girls with babies born out of wedlock were forced to work long hours and where many of them died and many lost their babies, and they lives they could have had. These laundries were run and financed by the Catholic Church in concert with the Irish State.

While being a large issue, Claire Keegan crafts a short story that looks at it from a very personal and human level. Everything in this tiny book is intentional and once you're done reading it you realise just how smartly written it is.

The setting, its characters and their reflections, it is all so well crafted.

I am in awe of how Claire Keegan writes and I am definitely going to be reading her other books.

Small Things Like These is a tiny, concentrated book which talks about a dark period of Irish social history with care and a hope for humanity.

A Passage North by Anuk Arudpragasam

emotional informative reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A Passage North is a, contemplative and important book which goes into the minutest of details of the human condition, the civil war in Sri Lanka in a philosophical manner with genuinely moving prose. This is one to read if you enjoy books where nothing much happens, but the writing is beautiful and it’s full of observations on everything. 

A Passage North follows Krishan, a Jaffnese living in Colombo as he journeys back to Jaffna to attend the funeral of his grandmother’s caretaker.

If you are unconvinced by that description, I wouldn’t be surprised because nothing really happens in this book. Yet, I enjoyed it so much and out of the few books I’ve read this year, this is easily my favourite. 

This is most surprising to me because a few years back, I would have been bored by this book. So I think my enjoyment of it speaks more to my growth and learning to appreciate books on observations because that is what A Passage North is essentially.

The book is made up of long, winding sentences talking about observations of human behaviour and contemplating many of our actions and why we do things. It is highly philosophical but not in a way that is hard to grasp. 

Every word and sentence feels highly thought out and the message the author tries to give is conveyed really well. The writing is beautiful, so beautiful. I remember reading the first few sentences on the first page and I was in awe at how Anuk Arudpragasam even managed to string the words together. There are many sentences that’ll make you feel that way. 

However, what I found to be the best thing of this book was the tender approach it has to speaking about what can be considered a genocide of the Tamils in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. It’s an issue we don’t talk about enough and I implore you to learn more about it. The only reason I know is because I am half Ceylonese. I have close relatives that had to flee Jaffna because they were not safe. The book talks about a plethora of things relating to this under a microscope. He hones in on individuals all affected by the war which makes it feel extremely personal and real, only making you feel even more for them. 

However you have to remember that while some characters are fictional, this story and what it talks about is rooted in a harsh reality that was life for many people. Many Tamils have lost loved ones, had to flee their homes and hold trauma from these events. I feel that this book is a loudspeaker for them, it has allowed for many of their stories to be told.

The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford

funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

An amazing book to read for an introduction into economics. Highly engaging, covering a range of topics with a witty voice and not getting too technical making it accessible. Conversely, if you are well read in economics, this may be too basic for you and I agree, it scratches the surface of economics but this is essentially what one needs as an introduction because it lured you in and makes you want to learn more about economics and the way our world functions.

Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia

dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth

mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe

dark mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Poe is economical and manages to make such a huge impact with the carefully chosen words that string together sentences that paint a sinister picture in your head and send chills down your spine. I savoured Poe's writing and I am itching to pick up his other works. I loved the use of an unreliable narrator and how now I cannot stop thinking about the story and whether certain things actually happened or were all in this unnamed narrator's mind.