the 999 Challenge - June

Well here I am at the half way point. I have a bit of a mixed bag this month.
In My Fathers Den by Maurice Gee (Books made into movies)
I happened to come across this little gem when looking for books for my mother. This author is a well known New Zealand author and the story is set in New Zealand. As a young boy Paul Prior is allowed into the inner sanctum of his father's shed/den where a world of books await him. The den is is a bonding place for Paul and his father and a place to get away from Mum and his brother. Paul's past and family history turn him into a loner. Paul emotions run strong for a girl named Joyce with whom he shares a poem called Celia, unaware of how it will effect their future. Paul's friend Charlie steals Joyce from him and Paul moves away and becomes a teacher. Years later he returns to Wadesville to teach at the school where Joyce and Charlie's daughter Celia attends. Paul befriends Celia through their love of books. A murder takes place and Celia is the victim. It is here the story begins and retraces the steps that leads up to this senseless murder. When I finished the book and saw on the back cover that it was a film I went straight to the video shop to hire it. The film pretty much follows the book except Paul has a diffrent profession in the film, why do they do that? The story covers deceit, family and sins from the past. This book drew me in from the start and kept my interest to the chilling end.
Dear Fatty by Dawn French ( Biography)
The title is actually the name of Dawn's best friend and longstanding comedy partner Jennifer Saunders (because she is the thinner one). The book is set out in a series of open letters especially to her late father who committed suicide when she was 19. She wants to let her father know what has been going on in her life since he has been gone.It is a hilarious (as you would excpect) and moving collection of letters from her childhood, moving around as an Air Force family, to the agonies of the teenage years, to the death of her father, meeting Jennifer Saunders and the start of her career as a comedian, to her marriage to fellow comedian Lenny Henry, the adoption of their daughter Billy and her wonderful career. You can almost here her speak in this bright, honest and amusing book.If you engoy watching Dawn French you will love this book.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by Scott F Fitzgerald (Books made into movies)
This is a very strange short story written in 56 pages made into a film that runs nearly three hours. Benjamin is born an old man and ages backwards as the story progress. There are lots of issues arising from aging this way especially when he goes to college and he is fifty years old while the other students are seventeen. Years later he is attending a party with his father as they are now the same age, when he meets and falls in love with Hildegarde Moncrief a younger woman and they marry. However as time goes on and Benjamin becomes younger, healthier and happier his wife ceases to attract him. He goes off to fight in the Spanish-American war and when he returns his marrige deteriorates even further. In 1910 he hands his company over to his son and heads off to Harvard, as he now has the appearance of a twenty one year old. By the time he is in his senior year he can not cope with academic work load as he is now sixteen. As time goes on he progess through his early teenage years and he is now looked after by his son who is not happy about the situation as he looks younger than his own grandson. Eventally he loses his memory of his earlier life and becomes a baby than all goes dark.
The book and the film differ greatly as the only thing they have in common is the name and the aging process. I must say I enjoyed both the book and the film.
Fishing for Stars by Bryce Courtenay (Australian)
The story continues on from the Persimmon Tree with the end of World War Two it finds Nick Duncan living on Beautiful Island in the Pacfic. He finds himself caught between his two loves Anna Til who is exploting the riches of the world for profit and the older Marg Hamilton fighting to save the environment. Nick is suffering from post traumatic stress so Marg arranges for him to see a specialist in Sydney. Nick and the specialist don't hit it off and storms out of the office and is hit by a car on the street. When the specialist vists Nick in hospital he encourages him to write about his experinces as a form of therapy. He sets out to write of his love for Anna who he met in his late teens and draws us into his life in the post war days, the building of his shipping company and of the two women who inspire him.
I really enjoy Bryce Courtenay's books for their history content but I found this one a little repeditive of the first book.