Forethoughts: The China Bird by Bryony Doran
July 20, 2009 by Rob
Filed under Forethoughts
Note: A review for this novel have now been posted.
A few weeks ago Yvonne Barlow the editor of Hookline Books said one of the nicest things about me on her blog. Pointing out that many lit bloggers have big egos (I agree), and acknowledging that I’m not one of them (I agree with that too 
), Yvonne stated that it’s people like me, ‘a serious reader’ who makes ‘the book business turn’. Kind words indeed, and although I know a lowly soul like me isn’t going to be anywhere close to helping the book business ‘turn’, I also know that I would never get so far above myself, that I would become so selective in choosing only to review books that come from major publishing houses, featuring the most widely-known authors. Possessing such a shallow and narrow-minded attitude would be the death of me, it really would.
Fact is I couldn’t care less if a book is self-published or not. I couldn’t care less if a book is from the biggest publishing house in the world or the smallest. And it certainly doesn’t matter to me one iota whether the author of the book is a fully established literary ‘a-lister’, or a complete newcomer to the literary landscape. The deciding factor for me depends solely on whether the book interests me or not, and if it does, then no matter where it’s from, or who wrote it, it will get my full consideration.
The latest novel to grab me is the one I start reading today – The China Bird by Bryony Doran. Not surprisingly, given that I’ve spoken about her in the opening paragraph of these forethoughts, The China Bird is published by Yvonne’s publishing house Bookline and Thinker Ltd, and I read it simply because it interests me immensely, but not only because of its wonderful synopsis:
Seeing beauty in Edward’s twisted spine, a young art student begs him to sit for her. Dubious but flattered, Edward is awakened from years of apathy and experiences emotions he cannot suppress. But vulnerability can bring strength. This tale of secrecy, love and eventual understanding explores our perceptions of beauty and abnormality.
As good as this synopsis sounds (and it really does sound incredible), I also read The China Bird for another reason. Bookline and Thinker run a competition every year – the Hookline Novel Competition, which is open to new writers who have completed, or are engaged in, a MA writing course at university. From the submissions that are received each year, the publisher creates a short list of titles, and these titles are then sent out to reading groups around the UK so that an overall winner can be determined. The winner gets their novel published, and Doran’s novel is the 2008 winner of the Hookline Novel Competition. And this my friends is the other reason why I’m reading The China Bird.
As I’ve suggested in a recent Daily Bookshot featuring The China Bird – how could one ignore the output of a graduate with an MA in Writing? And how could one also ignore the collective opinion of a whole bunch of reading groups? I certainly couldn’t and wouldn’t on either account, and so the journey into The China Bird begins. Check back in a few days to see how it went, and if you want a more ongoing account of the ‘journey’ then keep an eye on my reading journal entries over the next few days.
Oh and usually in my forethoughts I would speak briefly about the author, but fact is Bryony already has an information-packed website of her own. So rather than replicate anything here, I invite you to head on over to Bryony’s own website, so that you can explore it at your own leisure.
Bookline and Thinker | 2007 | £8.99 | PAPERBACK | 348 PP | ISBN: 978-09555630-2-7
A note about Forethoughts
‘Forethoughts’ offer an insight into what my initial thoughts and impressions of a book are, before I begin reading it. Informal, and largely written as a stream-of-consciousness exercise in a single sitting, my ‘forethoughts’ capture an important stage of the reading experience for me – the anticipatory period before the book is first opened, when my excitement is piqued for the reading experience which lies ahead.
Blissfully ignorant my ‘forethoughts’ may be, but when they’re combined with my eventual ‘afterthoughts’, the result is a unique and comprehensive record of a very personal literary ‘journey’ through a particular book; a literary journey which will hopefully be of some value to other readers.
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Rob, a self-confessed bibliophile, is without any hope of rehabilitation. He gets unnaturally excited over anything book-shaped, and if book sniffing were a crime then he would have been locked up years ago (which wouldn't bother him in the slightest provided his cell were lined with books)
I think it is really important for book bloggers to support the smaller publishing houses and have read some amazing books published by them.
I hope that The China Bird is as good as the synopsis!
[Reply]
Rob Reply:
July 21st, 2009 at 12:12 am
Delighted you think the same way Jackie. In my experience the smaller publishers have to work harder and be more selective in their choices. This for me means their books are often going to be of a higher average calibre.
Warmest
Rob
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