I finished my exams on 16th May and after months of not straying from the syllabus, and obsessively re-reading and revising for my four English exams, I was finally free to choose my own books. When I finished my first exam, I swore to myself I’d go on a book crawl immediately after my last. It was time to treat myself. It wasn’t long (a day, to be exact) before I found myself revising in my local Waterstones café. Obviously, I walked out with four purchased books, having indulged in an early mini-book crawl before my second exam had even begun. Those four books made their home on my desk, staring at me: Circe, Internment, The Red Scrolls of Magic and Homegoing. They acted as encouragement for my following three exams. I still rewarded myself with a book crawl after my final exam – visiting all the local charity shops and second-hand bookshops. The result: a pile of 20 books on my desk waiting to be read.
The next question was which I should read first. I picked Circe by Madeline Miller. It had been sat on my desk for two weeks after that fateful Waterstones ‘study’ session, where it had held a position of pride on one of their displays. My knowledge of most of Millers characters arose from my study of The Odyssey last year, where Circe is depicted as a female ‘other’ who turns men into pigs. I often wished I had read the Percy Jackson series as a child because my mythology knowledge is embarrassingly limited. Miller beautifully transformed a male-dominated epic poem into a more exploratory commentary of female power, where Circe is provided a voice. There were some connections that were new to me; my favourite discovery was that Scylla was a creature created from Circe's jealousy. I liked this because it allowed us to explore the effects of guilt and responses to power - it is this transformation that leads Circe to be exiled and it is this transformation that leads to the deaths of many sailors. Despite the fact that most of the tale resides on one island, I remained captivated. Miller's writing beautifully transforms an old tale into a contemporary story worthy of the Women's Choice Award.
The next book I chose was Five Feet Apart, a coming-of-age story focusing on the lives of those living with Cystic Fibrosis, reminding me a little of The Fault in Our Stars. Having recognised the title in a second-hand bookshop due to the upcoming film, I wanted to read it before the adaptation came out. I’m glad I did. While Circe may now be on my list of top favourite books, the writing style and topic was similar to some studied on my course – Five Feet Apart, however, diverged completely. With a more informal tone, Five Feet Apart alternates between Will and Stella’s Point of View. I think the tendency for the writing to veer towards cliches is what made it so light-hearted: Stella obsessively takes her pills whilst Will tries to act the rebel. Through the exploration of death and loss, it moves past these cliches and it is here that I could fully invest in their stories. I think I took more to Stella's point of view, whether that was due to the writing or the fact that she was more relatable, I haven't yet made my mind up. I read this very quickly - I almost couldn't put it down, and it definitely tugs the heart strings. (I made the mistake of reading it in public and inviting weird stares while I held back tears). I’m looking forward to the film (specifically Cole Sprouse’s screen time), especially since this book was based off the screenplay – not the other way around!
My third choice was hard – there were so many books in my tbr pile I couldn’t wait to read. Eventually, I chose Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. I do not regret it! Each chapter is written from a different person's perspective, starting with two African sisters and travelling down their family tree. While this meant that I often found myself flipping back to the family tree to remember who is who (especially after putting it down for a few hours), it also worked in a very interesting way. Each chapter provided a snapshot of the character at one point in their lives, almost acting as short stories within themselves. However, the rest of their life is explored in their child's perspective in the following chapter. I found the final few chapters most interesting, set in the 20th century when slavery was abolished, yet discrimination was high. Gyasi shows how being black in 20th century America influenced work and home dynamics in a very powerful way; I almost couldn't believe this was Gyasi's debut novel. Her ghanian heritage definitely contributed towards her writing. As the stories move away from the African village settings, Gyasi's writing becomes more concerned with how to maintain black beliefs, struggles and experiences whilst being drowned out amongst white crowds.
I could list every other book I read after, but I think I’ll keep with these first three. Each was different and allowed me to read something beyond the syllabus I’d kept to for so long. I'm looking forward to reading more and post about them on this blog.
If you want to see my full review of each book, they are linked below:
Five Feet Apart – https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2828678648?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
Homegoing – https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2835986714?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
Happy reading! :)