Sofa Spotlight - Defiance, Jason Krumbine

I think this might be my first dip into sci-fi (well maybe other than the Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Universe). It wasn’t as full of action as I supposed. I was kind of expecting it to be heavy on fights and tension. But the plot of the story is considerably more nuanced than that.

So the story is about a star ship captain who is being interviewed by a pair of investigators who are asking questions about an event that our main character has been caught up in. The narrative flits between the past and the present day interview/investigation and the story is gradually built up layer by layer. Which essentially involves a new unidentified species and some buried secrets.

I always find it difficult to enter into completely different worlds because new worlds have the potential to have a blank canvas for aesthetics, culture, language and rules. What must be hard as a writer of fantasy/sci-fi would be creating a world which is both innovative and interesting but also accessible to the reader.

For me I think this struck a good balance. I didn’t feel like I didn’t know what was going on but there was enough of a new world revealed to me that gave my imagination the right amount of freedom and guidance to explore to its heart’s content. The nature plot enables the reader to explore this new universe with the characters. Which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I was also exited to discover that this was the first of a trilogy. So this won’t be my only adventure in this world. And it didn’t put me off sci-fi which was a bit of a worry. I’m still up for trying another and I will be getting hold of the next two books in this series very soon!

Sofa Spotlight - The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank

This, as the name suggests, is the diary of a girl called Anne Frank who lived during the German occupation of the Netherlands in the Second World War. It’s unlikely that you haven’t heard of it but just in case, Anne Frank is a teenage Jewish girl and her family have emigrated to the Netherlands from Germany to escape the Nazi regime there. But when the Netherlands are invaded the Frank family along with some other Jews go into hiding in what was known as the Secret Annexe. Sadly Anne Frank and her family and fellow hiding Jews are discovered, probably betrayed, and Anne Frank doesn’t survive the concentration camp that she is sent to. 

The reason I picked it up this year was because it was one of those books that I tried to read as a child and failed. It’s been so long since those attempts that I didn’t have any memory of what I was reading so it all came to me as new. Having now finished it, it has gone on my list of books that should be read by everyone. It’s important, just as Gulag Archipelago is important, but maybe in a different way. This is just one story but there must be thousands of others like it and they must be told and not forgotten. And if Anne Frank’s father had not survived this story too may have been forgotten.

I was really struck by how an ordinary life can be so quickly turned upside down. The start of her diary describes ordinary teenage stuff, school, friends, boys etc. But then it all comes to a sudden end and her existence is restricted to her hiding place and the kindness of others. You get a real feel for the tedious nature of their concealment but also their fear of discovery. And even though she gets used to this existence that too comes to a sudden halt when they are discovered. 

I would more than recommend this book if you haven’t read it before. And have tissues on hand because the story is real and it is heartbreaking. Also to say it’s written by a teenage girl it’s remarkably well written, what books might Anne Frank have written had she survived?

Sofa Spotlight - The Gulag Archipelago, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Gulag Archipelago is a collection of all the evidence that Solzhenitsyn could collate to show what was happening in the gulags of Russia. And that actually is an understatement because Solzhenitsyn himself explains in the book how it would not be possible to collect all the stories.

So the first thing to comment on is that this book is massive. It is a huge testament to the lives that were stolen away to the gulags and at the same time it isn’t big enough. Because that’s the second thing to comment on. The material in this book is of the kind to change or at least open minds. It’s challenging, particularly when it comes to its critique of communism as a political ideology. But the biggest challenge is facing up to how man can treat man so abominably. Because the things done to the people in this book make the humans sub human. The treatment that they endured is unimaginable and the wonder is that any survived. 

Which is what makes this book so important. Not only does it shine a spotlight on a dark period of time but it also draws out the stories of human survival. Solzhenitsyn tells of the mental states that a person had to go to in order to keep going. 

The impact on me was to make me grateful. Grateful that I have never experienced any of those horrors or had anyone close to me experience them. It made me re evaluate what is important. 

I would say this is a must read. There are abridged versions out there if the size is off putting. And the material is sobering to say the least - hence why I needed my Pride and Prejudice fix. But it is possibly one of the most important books I’ve read and I don’t regret a minute of the time and effort that I put into reading it. 

Sofa Spotlight - Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

There’s not a massive amount to say about this that hasn’t been said already so rather than rehash what’s already been said I’ll just give you a reminder of why reading this is was a good idea for me and why it would be a good idea for you to read it too. 

I’ve read Pride and Prejudice before but when I was still at school and possibly once since then. I wanted to read it again because I wanted a bit of light relief after reading some heavy Russian literature. (More about that next week but look out for my review of Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag Archipelago). Pride and Prejudice seemed like the perfect remedy to counter the seriousness I had just absorbed. 

Rereading it was a great experience. I loved it. But the rereading experience made me realise how much I had been relying on the BBCs adaptation for my Pride and Prejudice. What I thought was part of the story turned out not to be in the book, which led me thinking about what Jane Austen would make of the adaptations of her book. As one thought led to another I decided that a complete re read of all Jane Austen’s books was required, including Sanditon, which I’ve not read before but thanks to Andrew Davis’ adaptation I feel the need to become acquainted with the book. 

Having said that another book that I read alongside Pride and Prejudice was Jane Austen in Hollywood. It’s a selection of essays that takes a look at different aspects of the adaptations that have been made over the years and was very illuminating. So yes, it goes without saying that I would recommend Pride and Prejudice. But I would also recommend Jane Austen in Hollywood as well. Both are readable and entertaining in their own ways.