buter's BABY blog

When I started this blogging thing, I thought periodically I might do a book review or talk about a film I'd seen or something. Obviously this hasn't happened much to date, but nobody seems to have been complaining. For another thing, I usually can't stand movie reviews. If it was made by an established critic, then I have no idea what they are talking about, as it usually sounds like they saw a completely different film to the rest of the world. And another thing, I strongly feel that the way we interact with the world, our attitude, philosophy, whatever, is made up of all the experiences we have had, and all the people we have interacted with, basically we are the sum of our lives; so if I'm reading a review written by someone whom I have never met, how am I to assess whether their viewpoint would mesh with my own, considering that they have had totally different experiences to mine?

That being said, I do take my friends' reviews into account: because I know them, I know in general terms how they see the world, and so I can basically calibrate their responses against my own philosophy. (By the way, if you say you didn't like The Princess Bride, rest assured that I will totally ignore your opinion as you're obviously an addlepated fool.)

So with those ideas as a disclaimer, now it's time for you, gentle readers, to grab a cup of tea and read my opinion of a book I read recently.

It's called "Three Views of Crystal Water" and it's by Katherine Govier and it's set against World War 2 and the American-Japanese conflict. But it's a story about people and how they react to the war and the racial tensions and all that. Kind of like Snow Falling on Cedars, only much less of a romance story. But the plot itself (though good) is not the gripping thing about this book. The author just has a fantastic way with words that sucks you in, I found it so intense that I actually had to put the book down and breathe every now and again. One of the things that really grabbed me is the way she describes some Japanese woodcuts. I love Japanese woodcuts, I'm sitting under a print of one right now .. I love looking into them and creating a story for the people I see in them. And get this - so does the protagonist in this book. So instantly I feel myself sucked into the story. It's a really great tale of how people really are just people, despite the largeness of war and current events, in the end it really is all about people.

I think one of the reasons I never write reviews is that it's hard to get my point across. Suffice it to say - if you like reading books that examine human relationships in the midst of massive events: then read this book. If not, then don't worry about it.

If you want to know what other books I like, so you can calibrate my review, I really enjoyed Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle. Like Three Views, they are intense, and all about people interacting amidst huge world changing events.

I've just signed up for the HarperCollins FirstLook program, by the way, so hopefully I will get more reviewing practice soon. I think I might need all the practice I can get!!