Book 22 : The Destiny of Nathalie 'X' - William Boyd

I'm doing several 'challenges' this year, one of which is the Alphabet Challenge. I'll be reading a book by an author of each letter of the alphabet as well as a book that begins with each letter of the alphabet. Each book can only be on one list.

When it came time for me to find a D book I had a few options on my shelves. One of them wasThe Destiny of Nathalie 'X' by William Boyd and I have no idea where it came from.

It wasn't until I completed the first story that I even realized it was a collection of short stories. I wasn't quite sure what I thought of Mr. Boyd's style but I took it as a good sign that when I did discover the story was over and we were moving on, I was sad to see it end.

Each of the stories told took place in a different country. One is in a small village in Italy, one in Paris, one in Germany. The author himself is from South Africa, though he was schooled in Britain.

None of the stories are told in a traditional way. The first is a script that I'm assuming was for some kind of docu-drama, as there is both scripted voice over and interviews with people. Another story repeatedly inserts compelling information taken from a report about cork, written in the late 1800s. And I am not being sarcastic when I call it compelling - who knew cork was so interesting!

A lot of the stories had a philosophical feel and several of them centered around arguments in favor of a person's right to suicide. Some parts reminded me of Vonnegut, such as :

The simplest way to describe the book of moral philosophy that I am writing is that it concerns what can and cannot be said. In fact it will be only half a book. The most interesting half will be the one that I cannot write. That half will be the most eloquent.

In summation : I really enjoyed this and found it to be a pleasant surprise. I will be reading more of William Boyd.

We never love anyone. Not really. We only love our idea of another person. It is some conception of our own that we love. We love ourselves, in fact.


8/10
YTD:
Books read : 22
Pages read : 6,664
Currently reading : Silence of the Lambs - Thomas Harris & The Fixer - Bernard Malamud