Vodkafan's 2015 reading list

[chesilbeach]

Mrs P's Journey                    4/5

 

Sarah Hartley

 

This is a biography of a remarkable small lady called Phyllis Pearsall, who on her own in the 1930s decided to create an up to date map of London. She walked every one of the city's 23,000 streets , getting up at dawn  every day for a year and not going home for 16 hours. The result was the A-Z London Map, and she created the Geographer's Map company, which is still going today.

The true story is told in a very dramatic style . It was a real surprise page turner.

 

There was an episode of the BBC series Map Man with Nicholas Crane about the A-Z and how she came up with it.  It was repeated a few weeks ago, and I've just had a look on iPlayer and it's there for another 2 days, so if you're interested, you might still be able to catch it.  Link here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0078ynt/map-man-series-2-7-mrs-ps-az.  

 

I've added the book to my wish list, as it sounds very good, although the kindle edition isn't out until November for some reason

[vodkafan]

Ah thanks Claire!  I will try to catch it tonight.

[chesilbeach]

It's pretty good and only half an hour. He also covers how they keep the maps up to date today.

[vodkafan]

Murder On The Verandah Love and Betrayal in British Malaya    3/5

 

Eric Lawlor

 

Picked this one up from a charity shop. It was very similar in layout to the Road Hill House murder book I read earlier this month. A married woman, Ethel Proudlock, one day in 1911 shot her lover in the chest twice when he ended their affair to be instead -horror of horrors- with a Chinese woman.  After he staggered out onto the verandah Mrs Proudlock was witnessed standing over him with the revolver before putting another 3 bullets into his head at point blank range.

She pleaded self defence.

Like the other book, it examines and tells all that is known in retrospect of all the main characters both before and years after the murder, and shines a light around the society of the time. It was interesting and an easy read.  

[BSchultz19]

Murder On The Verandah Love and Betrayal in British Malaya    3/5

 

Eric Lawlor

 

Picked this one up from a charity shop. It was very similar in layout to the Road Hill House murder book I read earlier this month. A married woman, Ethel Proudlock, one day in 1911 shot her lover in the chest twice when he ended their affair to be instead -horror of horrors- with a Chinese woman.  After he staggered out onto the verandah Mrs Proudlock was witnessed standing over him with the revolver before putting another 3 bullets into his head at point blank range.

She pleaded self defence.

Like the other book, it examines and tells all that is known in retrospect of all the main characters both before and years after the murder, and shines a light around the society of the time. It was interesting and an easy read.  

 

 Sounds like an interesting book.

[Janet]

Mrs P's Journey                    4/5

 

Sarah Hartley

 

This is a biography of a remarkable small lady called Phyllis Pearsall, who on her own in the 1930s decided to create an up to date map of London. She walked every one of the city's 23,000 streets , getting up at dawn  every day for a year and not going home for 16 hours. The result was the A-Z London Map, and she created the Geographer's Map company, which is still going today.

The true story is told in a very dramatic style . It was a real surprise page turner. 

This sounds great - I've added it to my wish list. 

[vodkafan]

The Emancipated                                 2/5

George Gissing

 

This is another Gissing book that concerns marriage. I was tempted to give up on it because the long descriptions of locations in Italy bored me senseless; I like George best when he is talking about the gritty streets of London. True to form though he did supply a set of complex characters who gradually got me engrossed in their goings-on. The theme in this story is whether a woman who is educated in the "modern" way to be equal to her husband is able to make a better marriage. Gissing's opinion in this case seems to be that she is not;  the husband incredibly, in one remarkable passage, also puts all the blame on the woman for things that he has done!  But the woman at least is able to make her own life at the end of the book.

Several characters do die by the end of the book too, and there are several unexpected reversals of fortunes.       

[vodkafan]

Thyrza                  3/5   

 

George Gissing  

 

Yep sorry yet another Gissing review from me. This one was not as satisfying as some of the others I have read, but one thing I enjoyed was to be back on the streets of London again (this time Lambeth). The streets Gissing mentions are still there which gives the reader a real sense of being cemented into the place and time much better than when an author makes his locations up. I enjoy reading a Gissing book with my London AZ open at  my elbow following his characters about.

There is a cast of about twelve main characters, spit equally between male and female, and split again between well-to-do middle class and working class. These working class are not completely hopeless and destitute; they are doing OK  (with a couple of exceptions) and one gets the feeling of a tight little community that helps each other out, and also a sense of independence of thought among the working women that is at odds with the constrained expectations of the middle class women.

This is examplified by the character of Totty Nancarrow, a teenage orphan who lives alone and supports herself. She is kind, outspoken and happy and although treated with suspicion for not giving a fig about other's opinions, is thoroughly decent with good morals.  

The heroine Thyrza is a strange creation for a Gissing story and is much more akin to some romantic Victorian ideal. She never seems quite real to me. She is ethereal,  dreamy, weak in body, emotional and seems to suffer from the mysterious Victorian malady of being in "low spirits" and faints quite often. She is also very beautiful in a fragile way and has a fantastic singing voice that always brings tears to listeners eyes. (You see what I mean? she seems to float through the story like a ethereal butterfly). Her sister Lydia is just the opposite, tough, practical and has never had a day's illness. The two sisters, who  love each other very much, are orphans who live together in one room but support themselves working in the same hat factory as Totty. 

In the same house lives Gilbert Grail with his aged mother. Gilbert is a quiet man who works in a candle factory but who's only enjoyment is in reading books.  He has gradually accrued a respectable library of second-hand books.

Two other working class men are Will Ackroyd , who is interested in things of science, politics and progress (and also fond of Thyrza), and Bunce, who as an extreme Atheist  is trying to bring up his children as free thinkers without religion. I think Gissing was trying to show with these three male characters a range of prevalent working class attitudes of the time. 

Into the midst of these people bounces Walter Egremont. With not much to do in his life, he has set himself a philanthropic mission. He is of the middle class and wants to re-establish religion among the working class. He thinks they will be much happier and less troublesome if they read the bible instead of newspapers, and didn't get their own ideas about politics. But he believes he must first disguise his intentions as something else to gain converts, and rents a hall to give a series of lectures. 

The outcome of this nobody foresaw....

Edited April 16, 2015 by vodkafan

[vodkafan]

North and South                     2/5

 

Elizabeth Gaskill

 

I have seen the TV adaptation of this book about four times and so felt it was past time I read the book.  The book was a little bit of a disappointment, sad to say. Wow, Elizabeth, way to go to make a cracking story dull.

The writing seemed a bit amateurish. I can now appreciate why Dickens (her editor) gave Gaskill a hard time over this and considered it below par for his publication.

At the start of every chapter there is a quote or lump of poetry which I found simply irritating and pointless. The "Darkshire" (Yorkshire) accents are rendered phonetically and some local words like "clemming" (starving) I had to work out for myself.

There are some powerful emotive passages in the book , mainly between Margaret and Thornton or Thornton and Higgins, and some interesting monologues giving points of view (Gaskill's?) about industrial relations.

I am glad I have finally read it but could only give it an OK rating.. 

[willoyd]

North and South                     2/5

 

Elizabeth Gaskill

 

I can now appreciate why Dickens (her editor) gave Gaskill a hard time over this and considered it below par for his publication.

At the start of every chapter there is a quote or lump of poetry which I found simply irritating and pointless. The "Darkshire" (Yorkshire) accents are rendered phonetically and some local words like "clemming" (starving) I had to work out for myself.

 

Lancashire and Gaskell, surely?

 

Dickens may well have criticised, but in a head to head between Hard Times and North and South, for me it's a no brainer in favour of the latter's greater realism, as well as being a much stronger, more shaded, story.  No doubt Gaskell struggled with the episodic nature of magazine publication though, not least in the abruptness of that ending!

Edited April 16, 2015 by willoyd

[vodkafan]

Lancashire and Gaskell, surely?!

 

Dickens may well have criticised, but in a head to head between Hard Times and North and South, for me it's a no brainer in favour of the latter's greater realism, as well as being a much better, more shaded, story.  No doubt she struggled with the episodic nature of magazine publication though, not least in the abruptness of that ending!

 Sorry yes Lancashire! I know Milton was actually Manchester but I forgot it wasn't in Yorkshire. I have no excuse for my misspelling of Gaskell though thanks for correcting me.

I know that she did indeed struggle with the restraints of the nature of publication , and the kindle version I read is the later revised version with chapters inserted. Have you perchance read any other Gaskell works Willoyd? This was my first and am wondering whether to give her another chance..

Edited April 16, 2015 by vodkafan

[willoyd]

 Sorry yes Lancashire! I know Milton was actually Manchester but I forgot it wasn't in Yorkshire. I have no excuse for my misspelling of Gaskell though thanks for correcting me.

I know that she did indeed struggle with the restraints of the nature of publication , and the kindle version I read is the later revised version with chapters inserted. Have you perchance read any other Gaskell works Willoyd? This was my first and am wondering whether to give her another chance..

 

Yes, I'm developing into a bit of a Gaskell fan, but then I'm a fan of nineteenth century classics full stop (including Dickens, whose books I generally think are wonderful, including Bleak House amongst my top five books!).  Given how much I enjoyed North and South, I'm probably not the best person to be recommending to you (!), but Cranford is much lighter, a bit more a comedy of manners, closer to Austen than to Dickens, whilst Mary Barton is closer to North and South, if a bit less wordy. I prefer the latter, but most prefer the former. What I like about Gaskell is how she puts the working people at the centre of her stories.  She may not be as accomplished a writer as, say, Dickens, or Eliot, but she certainly writes about what she knows, and there is an underlying passion that I love, a sense of realism that, for me, is missing a bit from, say, Dickens.  So maybe not quite amongst the best, but not out of touch!

I've also read a couple of her novellas - OK, but not as good as those above.

[vodkafan]

 Thanks Willoyd. In light of what you have said I think I will try Mary Barton.

I have seen some of the TV version of Cranford and it does indeed seem "light" to the point of being an inconsequential soap opera with no real meat in it. (For all it's faults North And South does have plenty of meat and is chewy)

[vodkafan]

Ubik                        4/5

 

Philip K Dick

 

At the beginning a bit incomprehensible, (but maybe that's because it's been a while since I have read any SF) I soon got my bearings and this soon turned into a tight little story. The book was set in a "future" 1990 and it was fun that back when it was written Dick thought we would still be listening to tapes and vinyl records and communicating through telephone lines (although the phones are videophones). Nobody saw the internet , digitized information and wifi coming. No mention of personal computers either. So it is a curiously slow paced 60's idea of the future.

Still, this hardly matters to the story, because on the other hand human society has evolved telepaths and other "talents" that can see possible futures ("precogs"), and science has advanced so that we can phone up our dead relatives who are stored in cryogenic chambers, at least for a few years afterwards while the brain waves remain strong.

These are the two elements that the plot is based around. It was a very fun book. One of the things he has fun with is the clothes the characters are wearing; he dresses them in outrageous combinations such as sarongs, golf caps and carpet slippers. I really must read some more Philip K Dick soon.   

Edited April 18, 2015 by vodkafan

[julie]

James

 I loved Cranford.. I guess it has some meat, but maybe the meat is chicken . Nothing much to chew over .. maybe ladies would like it more than men -- it's mainly ladies in the book ( a few men tossed in here and there ), but the ladies steal the show. I like all the unusual characters in the book and the humor. More of an amusing book than a heavy-duty one .

[Athena]

I have Ubik on my TBR, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I liked Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and A Scanner Darkly by the same author.

[vodkafan]

The Apple : Crimson Petal Stories                 3/5

 

Michel Faber

 

A slim collection of punchy short stories about some of the characters in The Crimson Petal And The White. From different points in time, some before the events of the book and some long afterwards. In the introduction the author talks about his decision not to write a sequel to that book, but really the stories in this collection do tell you all you need to know without even reading between the lines. I read the whole thing in a couple of hours.   

[vodkafan]

A Special Relationship                  3/5

 

Douglas Kennedy

 

This was not my usual type of book at all. About a female American journalist who meets a British journalist in a war zone , gets pregnant, married, then settles with him in London. It's about sharing the same language  but feeling completely alienated by a different culture. Things start to go wrong. Once the pace starts to pick up I had to keep turning pages to know how it turns out. I liked it. I suppose it would fit in the general genre of more serious chick-lit despite being written by a chap. 

[vodkafan]

The Women Who Lived For Danger                       3/5

Marcus Binney

 

This book is a look at the lives of several very brave women back in the 1939-45 war. These women, all volunteers, were recruited into the SOE (Special Operations Executive) and parachuted into enemy territory as clandestine agents. Some were beautiful, some were good at organising, some enjoyed fighting with guns and blowing up trains. Some were only just out of teenage years. Some were not so good and made mistakes. However, all were very brave and faced extreme danger every day.  One of them even had a wooden leg, which in typically British fashion she named Cuthbert. The most famous ones who were tortured and killed by the Gestapo include Violette Szabo and Noor Inayat Khan.

The author names all his sources and tries hard to give the reader fact and not fiction. He personally talked to a few of the women who at the time of writing were still alive (one of them jokingly asked if he had came there to kill her!). I appreciated that approach and it made the human aspects of their exploits even more impressive.

The book made a nice change and was an easy read.

[vodkafan]

There But For The                     1/5

 

Ali Smith

 

 I am divided about Ali Smith more than any other author I have read. So far I have read four books by Ali Smith. Two of them were great, really very good and two of them were not good. This falls into the latter category. It is by far the worst though.  I got all the way to the end and it all seemed completely pointless. Can somebody who has read it actually explain to me what it was about? I am totallly confused by it. Most of it seems to be the thoughts of ten year old Brooke.  I think we are supposed to be getting some sort of profound message through her simple way of viewing the world; where she has the answer and all the adults are sort of blind and have lost the plot.  Actually the effect is so naive that I lost interest long before the end. Also the author seemed to be getting political a lot of the time near the end. I don't really like that in a novel.  

[vodkafan]

The Paying Guest                 4/5

 

George Gissing

 

 (Not to be confused with the new Sarah Waters book of almost the same title) Just when I thought that I must have read the best of George Gissing already I found this little delight. It is one of his lighter stories and is funnier than The Town Traveller.

The Mumfords are a middle class Victorian couple living comfortably in a terraced "villa" in suburbia about 1890ish. To increase their income a little they decide to answer an advertisement from a young lady who is looking for lodgings.  

Despite some doubts about her background they take this girl in. In fact they want to help her and believe it is their Christian duty to steer her away from bad company and "improve" her. Gradually they get sucked into all sorts of goings on and are soon out of their depth.

This is very short, just a novella and I read it at work in one day in my breaks.

[vodkafan]

The Victorian House Explained                    5/5

 

Trevor Yorke

 

A slim soft cover reference book that describes the history of the (UK) Victorian period house and all its variations along the social scale. Plenty of photos and the authors own line drawings explain everything simply. As Victorians built houses all over the country this makes it fun to look at what's in your own town and date the houses from their original features. Half the book is about exterior designs and the other half interior fittings and furnishings. I know not a lot of people will be interested in this but I am an anorak.  A great little book.  

[chesilbeach]

There But For The                     1/5

 

Ali Smith

 

 I am divided about Ali Smith more than any other author I have read. So far I have read four books by Ali Smith. Two of them were great, really very good and two of them were not good. This falls into the latter category. It is by far the worst though.  I got all the way to the end and it all seemed completely pointless. Can somebody who has read it actually explain to me what it was about? I am totallly confused by it. Most of it seems to be the thoughts of ten year old Brooke.  I think we are supposed to be getting some sort of profound message through her simple way of viewing the world; where she has the answer and all the adults are sort of blind and have lost the plot.  Actually the effect is so naive that I lost interest long before the end. Also the author seemed to be getting political a lot of the time near the end. I don't really like that in a novel.

 

I completely understand your feelings in this review.  Here's a link to my review from a few years back: http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/9589-claires-book-list-2012/?p=303335.  

 

I think the key thing I remind myself when reading an Ali Smith novel is that she is not just telling you a story, she playing with language and structure, and challenging the traditional concepts of what a novel should be.  I've seen her talk more recently on her latest novel, How To Be Both, and one of the things she talked about is that art, whether it is a novel or a painting or whatever form it takes, requires more than one viewing or reading, and that she hopes that people read books more than once and peel away the layers and find new things in each reading, just as you would if you watched a film for a second or third viewing.  If I think about it, that makes sense.  Each time you read something, you will be in a different mood, in a different place in your life, in a different setting, and each time you make find something different in a book.  Perhaps after another reading at a different time, you might feel differently … who knows?

[vodkafan]

Hi Claire, thanks for your PM and the link to your review. I haven't given up on Ali Smith altogether, I am hoping she will produce another story with the clarity of Boy Meets Girl . Maybe I will give this one another read sometime when I am in a different mood- but it won't be for a long time!

[vodkafan]

Our Friend The Charlatan           5/5

 

George Gissing

 

 Oh, this book was such a lot of fun . Dyce Lashmar is in a bit of a bind.  In quick succession he loses the steady income from his father and also the money he was getting from the private tutoring of the son of a widow (who also happens to be besotted with him).  He is Oxford educated and has the gift of the gab; he knows he can persuade people of almost anything. As the book continues we like Lashmar less and less. He has a "method" for dealing with women which he espouses as treating them equally , where in reality he holds all women in contempt and thinks every female in the world beneath him.  He thinks honesty is only a guideline for lesser mortals. We also see that his ego is huge and he starts to believe his own lies and delusions. It really is quite delicious seeing this character develop because you just know that he is heading for a HUGE fall by the end of the book.

He hears of a wealthy widow Philanthropist widow who may be persuaded to sponsor him into politics. This aged dragon will not be a pushover. She needs to be handled carefully. But she is only one of FIVE principal female characters who Dyce needs to juggle and charm simultaneously and in the end these women cannot be controlled by his "method" no matter how clever he thinks he is. The situation gets funnier and funnier for the reader as it gets more uncomfortable for Lashmar. Because you know he deserves everything he is going to get.  

The female characters are unlike any other Victorian women I have read about in fiction. I liked all of them especially the rather clever (but not totally nice) Mrs Toplady.  

Another way of seeing this novel is the old dictum : You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time; but you cannot fool all of the people all  of the time.