My Booky Wook

My Booky Wook
Russell Brand
Hodder & Stoughton, 2008

First impression:
Being a great fan of Russell Brand and his trademark of bizarre honesty, I do have my hopes up for his autobiography even if I do regret that I cannot hear him read it. The cover promises a "funny" read and I suppose it will be, even if the press generally have an ability to turn sincere weirdness into an object of ridicule. I am occasionally confused by complicated sentence structures, but my eyes are open.

Review:
First of all, I think the two basic premises for enjoying an autobiography are, firstly, to be interested, not only in the person writing, but in their personal goings-on. I am not entirely sure this is the case with me, as media personalities and I do not get along very well. To be honest, we are all human beings. But I did enjoy being told little anecdotes and gaining a broader perspective on what kind of person this gentleman is. Secondly, I think, to some degree, you need to be familiar with the events described - in other words, you need to know what the book is going to be about, just to enjoy that feeling of inclusion, finding out secret details, if you will. So, generally not being the ideal audience for this book, I enjoyed it well enough and had no trouble going through it, but I cannot say the genre is one I will seek out in future.

Rating: Good

Orlando

Orlando
Virginia Woolf
Penguin Books, 1993

First impression:
The very first impression was how absurd and funny it is in describing Orlando's self-indulgent youth. Not yet having read that far, however, I cannot stand for how the narrative may develop as he does. The unravelling of plot is very abstract, difficult to describe and sometimes confusing, but at least I do not dislike the work at this point.

Review:
Although I quite enjoyed it, I was never entirely engulfed by the book as I would have liked. The narrative style is (as mentioned) peculiar, and an idle reader like myself is often confused by the lack of obvious markers as to change of scenery, event and topic. I found the intrusiveness of the "biographer" both charming and annoying, as it excused the occasional spurs of poetic flourish, but also distracted further from a plot that is already hard to pin down. As far as ficticious biographies go, it is insightful and intriguing; providing food for thought, but not so much of a coherent story or resolution.

Rating: Good