"The Last Werewolf" episode of "The Readers"

Stuff and Nonsense by Amy Cockram is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

When I wrote my previous post on "The Last Werewolf," I mentioned that it was a Summer Book Club pick for "The Readers."  Their episode on Glen Duncan's novel has come out today and you can find it here and on ITunes.  I hope they won't mind me linking to their site.

As a result of my last post, which I tweeted them a link to, one of the hosts, Gav, asked me if I would like to join their discussion panel.  I was hesitant at first because I've never been on a podcast - I've been asked by a couple of other people and had wimped out - but I decided that it was too good an opportunity to pass up.  Also on the discussion panel were Sakura of the blog "Chasing Bawa" and Nicola Mostyn as well as hosts Gav and Simon.

It was a strange experience to be on the discussion panel, as it took place on my birthday and I was very nervous.  I wasn't sure whether to link to it because I was afraid that I might sound
a) like an idiot
and/or
b) like an adenoidal 13 year old girl
As this wasn't the case - at least not as much as I feared (although I did sound very Cornish sometimes) - I have posted the link above.  Gav and Simon's own thoughts as always are entertaining and interesting, and they also have a fascinating interview with Glen Duncan on the programme.

"The Last Werewolf," by Glen Duncan

Stuff and Nonsense by Amy Cockram is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

Life, like the boring drunk at the office party, keeps seeking you out, leaning on you, killing you with pointless yarns and laughing bad-breathed in your face at its own unfunny jokes.

I'm a little bit early with this post, but I wanted to get it written while it was still fresh in my mind; early because this is the one of the choices of The Readers Summer Book Club and it isn't up for discussion yet.  The Readers podcast - if you haven't already discovered it and, if you haven't, you really should check it out - is a very entertaining UK based podcast about books.  This is one of a few podcasts that I look forward to every week (along with the Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo movies podcast and, of course, the podcasts that my husband is on), and it is available from the link above and also on I-Tunes.  I'd heartily recommend it.  The Bookrageous podcast is also good but, as this is US based, I've occasionally been frustrated when they have talked about books that sound great but don't seem to be readily available in the UK.

Anyway, I already had "The Last Werewolf" on my list of books to read since hearing about it on the Bookrageous podcast - and, by coincidence, I had already borrowed it from the library when I heard that it was one of the book club picks. 

Glen Duncan's anti-hero is Jacob Marlowe.  Jake is just over two hundred years old, and for one hundred and sixty-seven of those years he has turned into a werewolf at every full moon.  And Jake is a marked werewolf, as the incredibly successful attempts of WOCOP (World Organisation for the Control of Occult Phenomena) to eradicate werewolves mean that he is the last one left.  Jake has been managing to evade them, but they seem to be catching up with him, and he seems to have also attracted the attention of some vampires (which is odd as they normally revile werewolves).  In addition, "The Last Werewolf" is also partly a love/lust story, with a strong wolfish libido, so you would be advised not to buy this book for an easily shocked maiden aunt as a present. 

What sets this book apart from the glut of other vampire and werewolf novels, is Duncan's use of language.  I haven't read any of his other novels, but I gather that Duncan is an established, although previously not incredibly famous, "literary" writer.  Duncan's novel is mostly first person in Jake's voice, and I found Jake to be a very articulate and entertaining narrator.  In a nice touch, I found myself occasionally aware of little elements of ever-so-slightly archaic sounding language that seem fitting for a narrator who has been on the earth for such a length of time.  A couple of quotes which I loved have popped up in my Facebook timeline when I wanted to share them with friends (cars stopped by snow are "poignantly stupefied").  I rarely feel moved to quote from books in this way but when you discover an insult as brilliant as "pug-faced lolloper," you just have to share it. 

This magnificent insult also beings me to another thing I love about this book - yes, it is dark, but it has some wonderful moments of black humour sprinkled through the narrative.     I was particularly fond of an early passing reference to Jake having "eaten a forty-three-year-old hedge fund specialist."  I'm not sure why I found this funny - perhaps the specificity of the age, the profession; the matter of fact and mundane way this is mentioned - but when I reached this on page 5, I knew that I was probably going to enjoy this book.

Duncan's take on vampires is different from the kitsch, glittery, costume-jewellery vampires of Stephenie Meyer (thank heavens), and the werewolf is a dangerous, primal creature and not just a hunky man who every so often ends up naked in the woods.  There is another quote that I put on Facebook, so my friends on there might recognise it, which I found amusing.  I'm torn because I don't want to include it here - it's not a plot spoiler, but it is an ideological spoiler - but I want to re-quote it because I love it.  My solution to this is that I will quote it in the first comment on this post - if you are planning to read the book and don't want a funny couple of lines to be spoiled, then don't read the first comment.  Even if you are planning to read this book and do read this quote, there is a lot more to Glen Duncan's vampires than this quote might suggest.

"The Last Werewolf" is apparently the first in a trilogy.  The second in the series, "Talulla Rising," is now out, but my local library doesn't seem to have a copy (which is a form of torture for a committed bibliophile).  I'm considering buying it, and my willpower might yet wane when it comes to the next full moon...

My first guest post

Stuff and Nonsense by Amy Cockram is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

 I'm a little bit excited.

Anyone who occasionally checks my blog might have become aware of semi-regular references to Jeremy Northam, who in my opinion is a) a very talented actor and b) damn sexy.

A friend who I met through Twitter, Gill Fraser-Lee,  has an excellent blog about Jeremy's work - "The Jeremy Northam Blog" - for which she asked me to do a guest post about his recent audiobook of George Orwell's "The Road to Wigan Pier."  If you fancy popping over to her blog to read my guest post, you can do so here.

I am choosing to think of this as my first writing commission.

If you are interested in the work of this very talented man, I'd recommend having a browse around the great posts that are available on Gill's blog.....

"How to be a Woman," by Caitlin Moran

Stuff and Nonsense by Amy Cockram is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

It is no surprise that I like this book, since my last 3 posts have been quotes from it.  I was even considering giving it 5 stars on Goodreads, but I think I will give it a 4 (the perfect 5 star read is as mythical as the griffin).

I thought that I was going to like this book when I read the prologue, as I liked her sense of humour.  By page 12, when she said that Germaine Greer was her heroine, I knew that I was going to love it.  I, too, love Germaine Greer because she is a truly excellent mix of being passionate, articulate, intelligent, funny and occasionally barking mad.  I have seen her talk twice, the first time at a feminism conference at which her talk was inspirational - then a later speaker who I won't name came on with a self-aggrandising "feminism-was-great-once-but-now-it's-all-shot-to-hell" litany and completely undid her good work.  Germaine Greer is still fighting; this other woman was giving up.

Caitlin Moran isn't giving up either.  Her book is very funny - I hope my few previous quotes have shown this - but she also seems to be trying to take feminism out of realms of the abstract and theoretical and into the everyday, practical world.  It should be something for real women, and not just fusty academics.  According to her, there is a quick way to work out if you are a feminist:

Put your hand in your pants.
a) Do you have a vagina? and
b) Do you want to be in charge of it?
If you said "yes" to both, then congratulations!  You're a feminist.

Her writing takes in experiences and choices that women face throughout their lives: sexism in the workplace, brazilian politics (and I don't mean the country), marriage, motherhood and abortion.  I would recommend the chapter in which Caitlin relates the difficult and painful birth of her first child to anyone who is feeling broody and - whether it is down to lack of finance, inadequate accommodation, being without a partner or with the wrong partner, or whether it is just not happening - is not currently pregnant.  Her experience is likely to make you feel a lot happier about that; it is an excellent antidote to broodiness and could probably be used as a contraceptive.  If you are currently pregnant, it might be best avoided.  It might be a short-lived antidote, however, as her second labour is easier and she writes about the pleasures - as well as the hard-work - of having children.

It was interesting to read this book, having just read "Eat, Pray, Love" before, as the two are very different.  Elizabeth Gilbert's book is very much a spiritual journey, whereas Caitlin Moran's book is about learning to live as a woman in the physical world with which we are blessed (or which we are stuck in, depending on what kind of a day you've had).  I gave both 4 stars on Goodreads for very different reasons but, if you are a girl and you are only going to read one of these, I'd pick "How to be a Woman."  You might not learn how to meditate, but it might help you to laugh and deal with that bad day at the office.

Another quote from "How to be a Woman"

Stuff and Nonsense by Amy Cockram is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

I think that this will be my last quote until I write a review of this book.  I just found this very funny.

The bra is, perhaps, the rudest item of women's clothing.  If you do not doubt this, try this simple test: throw a bra at a nine-year-old boy.  He will react as if he has had a live rat wanged at his head.

I think it is the excellent use of the word "wanged" that makes me love this quote.

Today's Caitlin Moran quote

Stuff and Nonsense by Amy Cockram is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

When the subject turns to abortion, cosmetic intervention, birth, motherhood, sex, love, work, misogyny, fear, or just how you feel in your own skin, women still won't often tell the truth to each other unless they are very, very drunk.  Perhaps the endlessly reported rise in female binge-drinking is simply modern women's attempt to communicate with each other.  Or maybe it is because Sancerre is so very delicious.  To be honest, I'll take bets on either.

A quote from Caitlin Moran's "How to be a Woman"

Stuff and Nonsense by Amy Cockram is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

I wanted to quote an extract from this, because I am discovering that I really love this book.  It might even be a five star on Goodreads - and I am quite conservative with my stars, so I think it would be my first.

Please don't think of the previous paragraph as a spoiler for my review in a couple of days time.  I prefer to think my "How to be a Woman" review as the blog equivalent of an episode of "Columbo:" you already know who did it - or you already know I like it - but you still go along with it to see how Columbo (that's me, in this rather suspect metaphor) gets there.

Over the next couple of days while I am reading the book, before I write my review, I might post a quote that I've loved each day.  The bit I thought I would post today is the longest I wanted to quote...

What I AM going to urge you to do, however, is say "I am a feminist".  For preference, I would like you to stand on a chair, and shout "I AM A FEMINIST" - but this is simply because I believe that everything is more exciting if you stand on a chair to do it.

It really is important you say these words out loud.  "I AM A FEMINIST."  If you feel you cannot say it - not even standing on the ground - I would be alarmed.  It's probably one of the most important things a woman will ever say: the equal of "I love you", "Is it a boy or a girl?" or "No! I've changed my mind! Do NOT cut me a fringe!"

Say it.  SAY IT!  SAY IT NOW! Because if you can't, you're basically bending over, saying, "Kick my arse and take my vote, please, the patriarchy."

And do not think that you shouldn't be standing on that chair, shouting "I AM A FEMINIST!" if you are a boy.  A male feminist is one of the most glorious end-products of evolution.  A male feminist should ABSOLUTELY be on the chair - so we ladies may all toast you, in champagne, before coveting your body wildly.  And maybe get you to change that light bulb, while you're up there.  We cannot do it ourselves.  There is a big spider's web on the fitting.