Books of Beauty - Jurassic Park

A few years ago, I spent £65 on a book. I was a student at the time so it meant that I had to knock chocolate on the head for a while but it remains the best money I have ever spent. The book was The Lord of the Rings and it is honestly a thing of beauty. It is by far the most beautiful book I have ever owned and possibly will ever own. While the story remains one of the greatest ones ever told (in my humble opinion), buying this book and using my student loan to do so represented far more than me just buying another version of my favourite book. No, it represents my seeing books as something of genuine beauty. Don't get me wrong, I've always loved books and don't yet own a kindle for this reason. There is something genuinely amazing about a book with a cover and pages and books only get more beautiful the more you read them. I still own my first copy of The Lord of the Rings  and it is now a tattered collection of dog-eared and stained pages held together by sellotape and the grace of god but there is genuine beauty in that. However, books of beauty can be so much more than pages with the corners folded over and tatty covers. Beautiful books should generate a feeling in you of both nostalgia and of seeing something familiar for the first time. A paradox it may be but a beautiful paradox all the same. 

If you are in search for a book like this, I can heartily recommend The Folio society (find the link to the left of your screen in the Links box). They release reprints of books which are staggeringly beautiful in my opinion and I was lucky enough to receive a copy of Jurassic Park for Christmas. Released as part of the 30th anniversary of the books publication, this reprint is a truly wonderful and beautiful book. I first read this story way back in the mid nineties on a plane to Corfu. I had loved the film so was eager to read the book it was based on and in my opinion, the book is better. There is just so much more detail and peril in the book with some of the plot threads from this first book being used throughout the franchise. Characters who get short shrift in the film are fleshed out more in the book and their motivations given more room to breath. Yes, it is typical Michael Crichton in that you need a masters degree to understand all of the sciency stuff but that's just a minor gripe and doesn't take away from the story at all. In fact, once you do understand it a bit, it actually adds to the film and makes you view it in a slightly different way. Anyway, I digress a tad because rather than being a review of the plot and story, this is a review on the appearance of the book. 

Like most books from The Folio Society, the book is boxed but take it out of the box and gaze upon the beautiful art work displayed on the cover. And don't just gaze, feel because the cover images have texture! The velociraptors are smooth and scaly as opposed to the back ground image. The colours really pop too
and there are 6 full colour pictures throughout the book to enjoy, plus a black and white double page spread. Vector Fox is clearly a talented illustrator and his style matches the book really well. There's something very nineties in how he uses colour and tone which fits somehow. It is worth checking out his website as there are some illustrations which didn't make the book but which are still fantastic. You can find his website here. 

I'll be honest in that despite owning this copy of Jurassic Park for the best part of 7 months, I've still yet to read it. The fear of making marks with my grubby fingers is too much to bear at the moment. I will read it one day though although on that day, I'll be in a room completely absent of dust and wearing my favourite hasmat suit so as not to spoil this beautiful book with particles of my unworthy skin.

Don't forget to check out The Folio Society's collection of stunning reprinted works. Just follow this link.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - Rachel Joyce

“He must have driven this way countless times, and yet he had no memory of the scenery. He must have been so caught up in the day's agenda, and arriving punctually at their destination, that the land beyond the car had been no more than a wash of one green, and a backdrop of one hill. Life was very different when you walked through it.”

Synopsis

On finding out that a former work colleague and friend is dying, Harold Fry decides to write to her. But, instead of posting the letter in the post box, Harold just walks on past it and he carries on walking, So begins an epic 600-mile trek from Devon to Berwick-upon-Tweed. Relying on his own determination and the kindness of the strangers he meets along the way, Harold Fry discovers things about himself and life that he never realised.

Review

This was a book which I had on my bookshelf for a while before I finally picked it up to read. It was one which I'd randomly picked up in a bookshop and I hadn't read any reviews about it. Sometimes I find that's the best way to start reading a book as you have no preconceived ideas about it and essentially go into the story blind. Anyway, despite it taking a while to pick it up and start reading, once I had I was very quickly drawn into the world of Harold Fry. He's a simple man of 65, retired who spends his days tending his lawn in Kingsbridge, Devon. When one day he receives a letter informing him that Queenie Hennessy is gravely ill, he impulsively ends up walking the 627 miles to see her. Along the way, he meets all manner of characters and reflects back on his life, his marriage and his estranged son David and uses his pilgrimage to resolve certain issues from his life.

“You could be ordinary and attempt something extraordinary, without being able to explain it in a logical way.”

As Harold Fry makes his way from place to place, the story becomes a little bit episodic and veers dangerously close to repetitive but the variety of different characters (all with backstories and lives of their own) ensure that there is a certain amount of freshness on each page. From the young woman in the petrol station who inspires Harold to make his pilgrimage to the middle aged lady who has a history of self-harming, each character he meets on his journey help to push the narrative on and give purpose to the story. There is a certain joy to be had from following Harold along his path, even if he doesn't ever truly understand why he's making it and you will find yourself really rooting for him. Even as a media circus forms around him as his pilgrimage becomes public knowledge, it's Harold who we want to get to Berwick-upon-Tweed and like Harold, these other hangers on become more of a nuisance than anything else.

Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed The Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, despite finding it a little bit episodic at times. Rachel Joyce has crafted a nice story and one which I would recommend you to read. There's genuine hope in these pages and in each sitting, I found something to enjoy and to keep me turning the pages. In writing it, Joyce touches on a variety of different themes such as love, loss, death and regret so there really is so much to unpack within the pages. At times uplifting and at other times sorrowful, this book is one which has the ability to make you feel a range of emotions and is well worth your time which is why it's 4 stars from me.

The Midnight Library - Matt Haig

 'Between life and death there is a library,' she said. 'And within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices ... Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?'

Synopsis

When we first meet Nora, she is on a bit of a downward spiral to say the least. She has lost touch with her brother, she's been let go from her job and she seems to let everyone down who matters. To top it off, her beloved cat has just died so she decides to find peace at the bottom of a jar of pills. Stuck between life and death, she finds herself in the mysterious Midnight Library. Here, she can choose a life she could have lived had she made different choices, a life that could be vastly different from the one she had decided to escape from.

Review

The premise of this book is a fascinating one and an idea I have grappled with a lot. Given the choice, would I want to live another life? A life where I did better at school or where I never lost touch with a childhood friend. Would I then want to stay in that life or would it still offer up disappointment and regret? It's a really interesting concept and in writing this book, Matt Haig has crafted a beautiful and compelling narrative. On the surface, his protagonist Nora is at a place most of us have been at some point in our lives.  She is trying to live her life but is weighed down with regret and a severe lack of purpose. It would have been easy for her to drift into whiny territory, for her to come across as unappreciative and ungrateful for what she does have in life. However, we can all relate to her at some level and so it is easy to be drawn into her story and to actually like her. 

After the wine, a realisation hit her with total clarity. She wasn't made for this life. Every move had been a mistake, every decision a disaster, every day a retreat from who she'd imagined she'd be. 

Once she finds herself in the Midnight Library, that is when we truly get to understand who Nora actually is. We learn about her regrets and how her life choices have shaped her. I've often wondered how different I am in these other branches of the tree of life I inhabit. How my own choices have helped to mould the character I've become. Through exploring these different lives, and learning about Nora's past and present, we really get to understand her on quite a deep level. It is testament to Haig's narrative style that we are drawn into the book and Nora's story in this way and be under no illusions, this is Nora's story and by the time you turn the final page, you feel like you know her as well as you know yourself.

Final Thoughts

It's been a long time since I devoured a book in two days but The Midnight Library is a true page-turner. Being under isolation due to a ping on the NHS app probably helped but I genuinely think I'd have devoured it anyway. It's how the book makes you feel, how you get drawn into the story and how you can find common ground with the protagonist. It has made me ask questions about my own life in a positive and life affirming way and has made me appreciate the choices I've made. If I ever found myself in my own version of the midnight library, while I'd love to explore the billions of other me's I could have become, I like to think that I'd return to this one and it's only through reading this book that I've come to that realisation. It has honestly had a profound effect on me so I see no other option than to rate it 5 stars and to thank Matt Haig for writing such a beautifully profound book.