Showing posts with label book. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book. Show all posts

Sunday, 19 August 2012

The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared

I am finally part of a book club, hoorah!  The lovely @mummybarrow over on twitter invited me to join and I jumped at the chance.   I used to be an avid reader, so it was great to have the incentive to get back into it. If you want to get involved then get involved here :)

The first book chosen was The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared - an intriguing title in itself.  In fact the author says he thought of the title before he thought of the plot, because he very much wanted to read a book with such a name.

Before reading it I did wonder what could possibly be so interesting about an old man climbing out of the window, but the story of what happened in the next few days was quite simply both hilarious and unbelievably believable!


These chapters are then interspersed with the story of the man's life leading up to that point.  I found myself hurrying between the current days happenings to the past history, as was the want for further knowledge of both!

My history is a little shaky, so I was a little lost on some of the salient points, but it didn't detract from the book as a whole!

To try and sum up, this is a man who enjoys a vodka, and although not interested in politics or religion found himself travelling round the world drinking (or not drinking vodka) with most of the key political leaders through the ages - again an unbelievably believable story!  A man who does not like to second guess anything, but certainly has nine lives when it comes to survival!

Of course I won't reveal the ending, but if you were on the Ryanair flight back from Crete last Friday, I was the one laughing loudly in row 20 - sorry!

Despite the one typo I found, on page 364 *fickle* I have recommended Chris read it next so will let you know his take on it too!

Thank you T, can't wait for the next offering :)

Annie x




Tuesday, 8 May 2012

It's a Game of Two Halves

I'm not normally a book reader, see my tweet count @annieqpr, but I couldn't put this down.  It appealed to me as it follows the trials and tribulations, or should I say dramas, associated with being a QPR fan - but it is also a fast-moving, engaging book which I think will appeal to football fans in general, and dare I say it anyone who appreciates a good, honest read.

The first half deals with how Fred got into football, his life growing up, and the special relationships that were formed.  Lovely stories about travelling home and away with Queenie, his very good friend who is no longer with us, and is sorely missed (I cried I must confess), and about his wonderful parents too, who are also no longer with us, they sound  like very special characters.  It also details how Fred ended up in Norwich, and how that has affected his football viewing.   I found myself nodding a lot at recollections of certain games, and enjoying his review of some of the games I missed - even though they were 8 years ago!  (1st May 04, beating Swindon 1-0).

The second half details our season leading into promotion.  Game by game, he details the emotions attached, and am sure any football fan will also relive the hearts in mouths moments, the major highs and those ever so lowly lows!
Fred signing my book :)

It is written with a lot of honesty and humour, and I had some real laugh out loud moments - trust me this review is hard to write cos I want to detail some of them, but I really think it is better coming from Fred himself!  I will however be having a discussion with him about his "ugly tree XI"!

I should also add, having met the lovely @writesaidfred68 and his mate Nigel @madbouncydogs can say they are pretty decent blokes - you will read how Nigel plays a very important part in Fred's early life and also a catalyst for the book itself - but you'll get that :)

To get your copy, go here :)

Enjoy
Annie x