Reading update

Finished Oh Play That Thing, Roddy Doyle’s second book from trilogy, The Last Round-up, last week. Eagerly awaiting the last book. I hope it’s not too long a wait. As it is, I read the first book, A Star Called Henry quite a while back, and other than the essentials, I didn’t remember much.

Like all the Roddy Doyle books I’ve read, Oh Play That Thing also gathers steam midway. You can never quite tell where one of his books is leading, or how it will end. I liked the ‘sandwich board’ parts and all the bits with Louis Armstrong (and by extension, his milieu) were fascinating. The ending went off in quite a different – though heart-rending – direction. Wonder what’s coming next. Still, I can’t help but feel that I like Roddy Doyle best when his subject matter is less vast, less epic – like in Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.

Also finished The Kiterunner by Khalid Hosseini, which is another one of those much talked about works. It was a fast, absorbing work, with a very poetic cadence, which I, with my limited reading of such books, tend to associate with Islamic writing. Very filmy though, the storyline. I wouldn’t think it out of place in a Hindi movie, albeit one of the better ones.

Coincidentally, similar threads – the Middle East, adoption - run through what I’m reading now. Which is Digging To America by my perennial favourite, Anne Tyler. Next on my list is a book I suspect is unabashedly pulp fiction – Lord Of Snow And Shadows by Sarah Ash, (Isnt that such a perfect name for fantasy writer?) which seems to be some sort of historical novel/fantasy/saga. Am I willing to be drawn into another make-believe world, replete with detailed backstories, so soon after Harry Potter?

In the meantime, I’m reading aloud Red Rackham’s Treasure to my kids, who’ve had their fill of fairy tales. It’s also a way to re-live my own Tintin reading days. That goes without saying! I do worry a bit though, will they think it worth the bother to actually read it themselves later, since they already know what the story is all about?