poppyshake

1. Who was your favourite character and why? Charlie, you experience everything with him and because of the way it's written .. in the form of Charlie's own written progress reports .. you get to know him inside out. His very open and honest accounts of his childhood and life at the bakery just made my heart melt, perhaps it was sympathy I don't know but I felt a great affection for him. This helped later on when Charlie became less likeable but by then my opinion of him was fixed and I put all the negatives in his personality down to the effects of the experiment. Everybody else you see through Charlie's eyes and I guess Alice was the only other character that I even remotely liked (along with Algernon, of course.) Alice did try to help Charlie and was obviously extremely fond of him and seemed to be the only person who ever really cared about him and his welfare. Yes, she overstepped the mark when she consented to a relationship with him but by then he was a very different Charlie. 2. Was there a particular part you enjoyed/disliked more than the rest? Not really but the character of Fay jarred a bit with me especially early on, she reminded me of (the film version) of Holly Golightly too much and it got in the way of me being able to place her properly, even down to their introduction (Charlie forgetting his keys and she being his scantily clad, slightly dotty, free spirited neighbour) the liberal use of each other's fire escapes, the way she argued with the man she bought home and then climbed in his window asking for a cigarette and then got into bed with him. I felt like if she had bought her guitar out onto that fire escape and started singing I wouldn't have been surprised. I have read Truman Capote's book but can't remember if Holly was depicted like that in it, I know it differed enormously from the film. I'd be interested to know if Fay was in the original short story by Daniel, if not then the character was introduced about five years after 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' the film was released. 3. Was this the first book you've read in this genre/by this author, has it encouraged you to read more? I rarely read science fiction, it's not a favourite genre but this was a good experience so I'm encouraged to read more. I do want to read some of the old science fiction classics such as Frankenstein and War of the Worlds, I don't know about contemporary science fiction, usually I find the plotlines are beyond my understanding. 4. Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with? Not really, the only thing that I thought questionable was - given the lifespan of a mouse - the thought that they would consider operating on a human before waiting to see what became of Algernon. But then I realised it was crucial to the plotline for us and Charlie to see Algernon regress. 5. Overall, did you find it an enjoyable experience? Yes I loved it, although I was blubbing at the end .. as usual. I was pretty sure that the ending would find Charlie back where he started but that didn't make it any less affecting when it came, when his punctuation started to go AWOL .. that's when the tears came.

My advice would be 'don't bother' but then again you might love it I think the unread book that's been on my shelves for the longest now would be 'The Mysteries of Udolpho' by Ann Radcliffe ... I've had it for ages and attempted it several times but never got further than a few pages.

I am shamefully behind with my reviews as per usual Bad Blood: A Memoir - Lorna Sage Waterstones Synopsis: A literary memoir of the highest calibre by the highly-regarded writer Lorna Sage, which vividly and wittily brings to life a vanished time and place, and illuminates the lives of three generations of women. Lorna Sage's memoir of childhood and adolescence is a brilliantly written bravura piece of work, which vividly and wickedly brings to life her eccentric family and somewhat bizarre upbringing in the small town of Hanmer, on the border between Wales and Shropshire. The period as well as the place is evoked with crystal clarity: from the 1940s, dominated for Lorna by her dissolute but charismatic grandfather, through the 1950s, where the invention of fish fingers revolutionised the lives of housewives like Lorna's mother, to the brink of the 1960s, where the community is shocked by Lorna's pregnancy at 16, an event which her grandmother blamed on 'the fiendish invention of sex'. Often extremely funny,and always intelligent, this unique memoir was instantly hailed as a classic upon its first publication. Review: I bought this book because the blurb on Hilary Mantel's memoirs recommended it highly and I've got a thing at the moment about writer's memoirs. One thing that Lorna had in common with Hilary is, as children, they both lived with their grandparents as well as their parents. That seems unusual now but I guess in the 1940's and 50's it was probably quite common. Lorna's grandparents didn't get on, in fact Lorna makes the point early in the book that the first time her grandmother went anywhere near her own husband's grave was feet first in a coffin where they then were 'rotting together in eternity, one flesh at the last after a lifetime of mutual loathing'. Grandma came from South Wales where her family owned a shop and lived over it, when she grew up though there wasn't enough employment there for all the children and so she married and moved away but in a way she never left the shop, she hankered after it and nothing else lived up to it. Grandfather was quite learned and well read (in fact he rather romantically named his grandaughter Lorna after Lorna Doone) so it was a mystery as to why he fell for a girl with no interest in books, music or paintings and whose main interests were peppermint creams and frilly blouses. But rather like Mr Bennett in Pride and Prejudice, he was taken in by a pretty face and like Mr B, soon came to regret it. Grandma resented this new life and refused to accept it, she holed herself up in her room at their new home in Hanmer (which was at opposite ends of the house to grandfather's), surrounding herself with scented soap and antimacassars, dreaming of the shop and and her beloved S. Wales, mothballing herself in, refusing to do chores of any kind, and heaping abuse upon God and man. Grandpa's room on the other hand was lined with bookshelves and filled with books .. though strangely they all had their spines blacked out to deter would be borrowers! When Lorna came to write her memoir, she read through her grandfather's diaries (carefully preserved by her grandmother) and it's through them that she learns the truth about her grandpa's dissolute behaviour and get's a greater grip on the reasons for her grandma's hostility (Lorna always privately sided with him, and still did even in hindsight, because he was the one who gave her her love of books and learning.) It's always a complete mystery why anyone with so much to cover up should write a fairly explicit diary for all the world to see if they chose. Grandpa had gone to Hanmer before his wife and children in order to prepare the house etc and it's not long before he is enjoying country cycle rides, and a whole lot more, with the local district nurse. There's also plenty of other dalliances and a growing love for the bottle, infact he practically uses the local pub as his office. He didn't even write in code, he once wrote down (whilst indulging in a relationship with the best friend of his own daughter when she was aged just 17 ) that he would have to change his handwriting but he never did (though quite how that would have worked I have no idea.) And this is all the more remarkable because Grandpa is the vicar of Hanmer, and that the villagers should think this behaviour acceptable and turn up each Sunday to hear his stirring sermons is beyond belief, but apparently for quite a while they did. Meanwhile, Grandma grew fat and furious, invoking curses on all men (except her own son) and shaking her fist at people passing by the vicarage So this was the kind of atmosphere Lorna grew up in, by the time she was born the resentment had festered into pure hatred. Lorna's mother Valma (another romantic name but they were never able to figure out which book inspired it) continued to live with her parents whilst Lorna's father was away serving in the army, and, to escape the horrors at home (there were devastating rows and arguments sometimes ending in bloodshed) she lived in a sort of dream world of her own .. a 'magical world of unreality' as Lorna puts it. They eventually move to a council house of their own but Grandpa is now dead and it's not long before Grandma, now old, fat and infirm comes to live with them. Lorna grows up wayward, resentful and rebellious but with a continued love of books and studying to sustain her. I don't know that I ever warmed to Lorna, I never felt sorry for her because she never painted herself as a victim despite her rather turbulent childhood but I did admire her. She became pregnant at 16 (despite being convinced that she'd never had sex) and married soon after but was determined to keep up with her studies and exams. Her and her husband were the first married couple of ordinary student age to graduate in the same subject at the same time, both with Firsts .. quite an accompishment. It's a cracking read though, there's nothing like reading about someone else's dysfunctional family. My eyes were wide with disbelief over some of their antics. It's very funny too, Lorna has a wicked sense of humour. She went on to become an award winning literary critic and reviewer but the book stops at the point of her graduation with only the smallest of updates added so you don't really learn anything about her as a writer but it's a great insight into what it was like to be an intelligent girl with aspirations growing up in the 50's/60's. 8/10

I'm sure you'll love it Frankie, it's very unusual but a great read. I feel just the same as you and Kylie do about you both being ahead of me, and I daren't read your lists .. well I have, but I daren't write them down or make similar lists for myself. I'd be so daunted, that it would take a darkened room and a Rupert bear annual to make me believe that I could ever read anything again The only way I can keep going forward is to pretend that there are just a few handfuls of books I haven't read yet. To see all my unreads and must reads written down in their entirety would probably tip me over the edge and if hubby saw it he'd confiscate my purse permanently and tell Amazon I've moved Actually I have got the 1001 list printed out and I've highlighted the one's I've read in orange and it's pathetic .. most pages haven't got any orange on them at all .. I stare at them and think 'you dunce'. see, I'm laughing again now :lol: I've not read any Faulks either, that doesn't matter .. he's talking about books and literary characters .. I'm there with bells on

Some of my fave's have already been listed 'The Lady of Shalott' .. conjures up such imagery. Shakespeare's sonnet 116 which is the only sonnet I know by heart .. I love it. And the 'Jabberwocky' is just brillig ... I love all the delicious words and phrases. I guess one of the one's that I find really moving is Wilfred Owen's 'Dulce Et Decorum Est' .. which was published posthumously after he was killed in action in WWI. The latin translates as 'How sweet and fitting it is to die for one's country'. It's not a pretty poem, the last verse especially is just devastating. Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots, But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind. Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; But someone still was yelling out and stumbling And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . . Dim through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. In all my dreams before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, – My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori. I love a bit of nonsense rhyme too and 'The Pobble Who has No Toes' By Edward Lear has long been a favourite. The Pobble who has no toes Had once as many as we; When they said "Some day you may lose them all;" He replied "Fish, fiddle-de-dee!" And his Aunt Jobiska made him drink Lavender water tinged with pink, For she said "The World in general knows There's nothing so good for a Pobble's toes!" The Pobble who has no toes Swam across the Bristol Channel; But before he set out he wrapped his nose In a piece of scarlet flannel. For his Aunt Jobiska said "No harm Can come to his toes if his nose is warm; And it's perfectly known that a Pobble's toes Are safe, -- provided he minds his nose!" The Pobble swam fast and well, And when boats or ships came near him, He tinkledy-blinkledy-winkled a bell, So that all the world could hear him. And all the Sailors and Admirals cried, When they saw him nearing the further side - "He has gone to fish for his Aunt Jobiska's Runcible Cat with crimson whiskers!" But before he touched the shore, The shore of the Bristol Channel, A sea-green porpoise carried away His wrapper of scarlet flannel. And when he came to observe his feet, Formerly garnished with toes so neat, His face at once became forlorn, On perceiving that all his toes were gone! And nobody ever knew, From that dark day to the present, Whoso had taken the Pobble's toes, In a manner so far from pleasant. Whether the shrimps, or crawfish grey, Or crafty Mermaids stole them away - Nobody knew: and nobody knows How the Pobble was robbed of his twice five toes! The Pobble who has no toes Was placed in a friendly Bark, And they rowed him back, and carried him up To his Aunt Jobiska's Park. And she made him a feast at his earnest wish Of eggs and buttercups fried with fish, - And she said "It's a fact the whole world knows, That Pobbles are happier without their toes!"

Well you must put your head around the Swindon library door every so often Tunn .. I'd hate it to close. The Cirencester library is awful .. all style over substance, and their 'try something new today' stand had 'Being Jordan' on it .. I nearly chewed up my library card. I still go to the libraries at the North Orbital and Swindon town centre. If they close Tunn .. I'll hunt you down and make you read Dan Rhodes's 'Anthropology' again No, but, I was so relieved yesterday that the man at my local Waterstones said that they are not one of the branches that are going to close. I'll do my best to personally insure that they don't change their minds in the future, it will be hard .. not to say expensive .. but it is my duty. I am a bit of a technophobe (though hubby says that's not the case and if it is then when the washing machine packs up he'll get me a washboard and a mangle and we'll see how technophobic I am) but the Kindle is so phenomenally successful that I guess we will all have one in time. I do have an I-pod and listen to lots of books on it so I guess it's only one step from that.

That's very good to know. I've loved everything I've read of his so far and this sounds like another winner. Thanks for the recommendation Iguana, and the webpage Chrissy had to laugh at some of the character names .. William of Anorak

Hi, if you don't mind a bit of magical realism thrown in then the book I've just finished .. 'Senor Vivo & the Coca Lord' by Louis de Berniere would be perfect. It's grim and violent but also extremely funny.

You must read Catch 22 Interesting to read your thoughts on Treasure Island, The Time Machine and Around the World in 80 Days, they're on my list and I feel like I should read them but something puts me off ... what you've written has confirmed my worst fears (especially about Treasure Island) I guess I will attempt them at some point but they're sinking like stones at the moment. I love your list, I read Notes from Underground and Never Let me Go recentlyish and enjoyed both. Look forward to reading your thoughts on Death of Ivan Ilyich. Did I say you must read Catch 22?

Yes, glad you enjoyed the second half of 'Middlesex' Mexicola, it's one of my fave reads ever. As for 'Winter Ghosts', you wouldn't be alone in being a bit disappointed by it, I've read lots of less than enthusiastic reviews. I keep uhmming and ahhing about it because the cover is so nice and the title sounds good but I'm not Kate Mosse's biggest fan .. I hated 'Labyrinth' and so don't really want to dip my toe in the water again. Great review of 'Night Watch', it's on my shelves so I'm looking forward to it, I do love novels set during WWII. How are you getting on in the world of Thursday Next?

Ooh I'm part way through this now so I can't read your answers Kell in case I read about something I don't know yet (trust me to almost read your answers before reading the great big red writing at the top of the thread ... twit!) I'm enjoying it a lot, it's very easy to read and very compulsive. I find once I've picked it up nobody can get any sense out of me for a couple of hours (that's par for the course though tbh.) I've got my own ideas about the ending, it'll be interesting to see if my guesses are correct. Be back to do the Q & A soon.

I've never read a Stephen King novel .. really, when I think about it I think I must have been living under a rock but then, I've seen a few of the films (or seen bit's of them from behind cushions) and I'm just terrified by that kind of horror. I'm sure lot's of people here will have some good recommendations though Ben and hope that you're still enjoying 'Duma Key'. I must say the premise sounds intriguing .. how strange! The only thing more frightening to me than a Stephen King novel would be a world without bookshops .. I wake up in a cold sweat about that one.

Yes, perhaps you need to be a child to not over-think them. Though I listened to them recently being read by Alan Bennett and enjoyed them a lot ... he really brings them to life. I am extremely jealous that you still have Harry Potter's left to read Bobbly .. and next is arguably the best of all 'Prisoner of Azkaban' .. perfect story and hadn't quite reached the housebrick size of those that were yet to come so more comfortable to hold too

Thank you LadyM .. I'm very happy to have you here. Looking forward to discussing 'Flowers for Algernon' with you in the Reading Circle .. I've only just started it but enjoying it tremendously so far. Being your own boss is great in a lot of ways but as the only staff is me, it can get a bit lonely. Apart from when I do exhibitions and shows and then it's like going from the sublime to the ridiculous .. lot's of people to chat to and no quiet time at all. It's me that's behind you, I literally only put The Library at Night on my wishlist a couple of days ago and then I saunter over to your thread and see that you've already read it! I'm glad to see you enjoyed it, I would have sent it packing otherwise

Great review of The Library at Night Kylie I put it on my wishlist recently and now .. because of your review ... it has trampled over all the other books to get to the top of the pile (Moby Dick is particularly annoyed because it's been on my wishlist for over two years and I haven't so much as sorted out which cover I want yet ... "tough luck Melville, Kylie hasn't recommended you!") I can't wait to read it now, it sounds like just the sort of book I like. Like you, I've developed a bit of a thing for books about books and books about writers. The only trouble is, as you say, they add to your TBR's enormously. Ah Pontalba, what a romantic story .. you can't go wrong with a fellow book lover. Hope you'll be very happy.

It was minus 4 this morning .. and there was nothing for it but to snuggle back down under the covers and do some more reading. Thankfully my boss is incredibly generous about allowing me lot's of time for reading and coffee's/tea's etc ... that's because my boss is me and, even if I do say it as shouldn't, I'm a big improvement on the stingy old boss I had last time who probably would have had a fit if I'd gone back to bed five minutes after sticking my toe out from under the covers. I don't pay as well as he did though, probably could have bought more books .. but then when would I have read them? .. tyrant! We could do with some of your Australian warmth here at the moment Kylie .... I'm sure we will see the sun again .. only another five months to go (conservative estimate )

Happy Newish Year Tunn My, you seem to be getting on famously with your Kindle. I can see the appeal, to be able to access books so instantly and obviously they're not taking up loads and loads of space either. Do you think it will completely put paid to you buying paper copies now? Everyone is raving about 'The Room', it's the book to read this year I think. Glad you enjoyed it and that you're enjoying your reading in general this year .. who knew that Kindle's came with free reading mojo's!

Bless you thanks .. I had to laugh about the abbreviation (mind you I'm still giggling that one of the central characters in 'Swallows & Amazon' is called Titty I'm glad they haven't gone all PC and changed it .. but it still makes me laugh like a schoolboy all the same.) No I haven't read 'Elegy for Iris' .... I'm definitely going to look out for it, thanks for the tip. I saw a couple of interesting books today, one of them was 'Faulks on Fiction' .. which is Sebastion Faulks talking about literary characters. I think it's going to accompany a BBC programme (or it may have been on already .. I'm rubbish at knowing these things) ... It's not a biography but it's a writer talking about books and that's another favourite subject.

Mr Chartwell - Rebecca Hunt Waterstones Synopsis: July, 1964. In bed at home in Kent, Winston Churchill is waking up. There's a visitor in the room, someone he hasn't seen for a while, a dark, mute bulk, watching him with tortured concentration. It's Mr Chartwell. In her terraced house in Battersea, Esther Hammerhans, young, vulnerable and alone, goes to answer the door to her new lodger. Through the glass she sees a vast silhouette the size of a mattress. It's Mr Chartwell. He is charismatic and dangerously seductive, and Esther and Winston Churchill are drawn together by his dark influence. But can they withstand Mr Chartwell's strange, powerful charms and strong hold? Can they even explain to anyone who or what he is? Or why he has come to visit? For Mr Chartwell is a huge, black dog. In this utterly original, moving, funny and exuberant novel, Rebecca Hunt explores how two unlikely lives collide as Mr Chartwell's motives are revealed to be far darker and deeper than they seem. Review: What a great premise, to take the famous remark from Churchill about his 'Black Dog' depression, and use it to conjure up one of your central characters. The dog is referred to as 'Mr Chartwell' or more familiarly 'Black Pat' and as well as plaguing the life out of Winston he has turned up at the door of Esther Hammerhans seeking lodgings. Esther, being a literary character, is a bit perturbed by this huge black dog but not as much as you or I would be if he came knocking on your door. And, he's not there to rent the room as first supposed, he's there because Esther is coming up to the first anniversary of her husband's death .. and Black Pat has seen a way in. Esther doesn't know any of this however and at first she's intrigued and fascinated by him because Black Pat can be quite charming and persuasive when he want's to be. The chapters alternate between Winston and his struggles with Black Pat and Esther's increasing problems with her new lodger. He's a very oppressive character (the writer has captured the blanketing weight of depression perfectly) he has a dark, dark sense of humour (which actually made me laugh at times .. he loves puns) he's very destructive and his sole aim is to completely overwhelm and oppress his 'clients'. Churchill is in a way resigned to this dark presence in his life, however it's still a constant struggle and a battle. Black Pat will drape himself across your chest so that you can hardly breathe, bark in your face or sit squealing like an injured animal in the corner, breathe on your food and block you from sunlight or sit chewing on rocks. He'll make sarcastic comments which are audible to nobody else but you (Black Pat being invisible to all non sufferers) and his stench will overpower all other smells. If he came to your house he'd probably drag your favourite paperback onto the rug, infact he'd drag your whole library there, drool over it and then chew it to bits, belching continuously and eyeing you for your reaction. And even though you are horrified by his presence, there would be a part of you, as disgusted and oppressed by him as you are, that actually looks for him .. it's such a love hate thing whilst you're in the grip of it. Esther has a number of people in her life who care for her and are concerned about her state of mind and they set about trying to cheer and occupy her. But it's a meeting with Churchill (not so co-incidental as it sounds .. Esther works in the House of Commons Library) that may prove to be the turning point, it's too late for Churchill to shake off Black Pat but maybe Esther can be saved. It actually took me a little while to get into the book, the writing is quirky and very creative and I occasionally had to do that thing of reading a sentence twice to make sense of it but once I got the hang of it I was up and running and greatly entertained. It can sometimes be a problem when writers write dialogue for well known historical figures - there's a risk of it sounding false and unauthentic - and this was even more of a problem than usual because I've been listening to readings of Winston & Clemmie's letters and so his manner and style of speech were fresh in my mind but I thought she captured him perfectly. Unusual, enjoyable and a very clever debut indeed. 9/10

It's probably just me Kylie, I expected too much from it and got over excited. I'm sure you'll like it, read it on a creepy cold dark day (do you have those in Australia? ) It's always lovely to see you here Frankie, I quite understand about you not wanting to read the reviews .. I am a bit of a blabbermouth I'm sure you'll love the Iris memoirs, I bought the book at a charity shop (oh happy day!) and it's probably the best £2 I've ever spent (if you don't count the ginormous piece of chocolate cake I ate yesterday.) I do love reading about writers, I'm fascinated by them .. they're usually quite odd.

That is one cute puppy .. she's all fluff! My cat's Oscar & Molly proving that they do love each other really (something they would never admit to when awake.)

The Dead of Winter - Chris Priestley Waterstones Synopsis: Michael Vyner recalls a terrible story, one that happened to him. One that would be unbelievable if it weren't true! Michael's parents are dead and he imagines that he will stay with the kindly lawyer, executor of his parents' will ...Until he is invited to spend Christmas with his guardian in a large and desolate country house. His arrival on the first night suggests something is not quite right when he sees a woman out in the frozen mists, standing alone in the marshes. But little can prepare him for the solitude of the house itself as he is kept from his guardian and finds himself spending the Christmas holiday wandering the silent corridors of the house seeking distraction. But lonely doesn't mean alone, as Michael soon realises that the house and its grounds harbour many secrets, dead and alive, and Michael is set the task of unravelling some of the darkest secrets of all. This is a nail-biting story of hauntings and terror by the master of the genre, Chris Priestley. Review: I love Chris Priestley's Tales of Terror and perhaps that's why I was a little bit disappointed with this full length story. It's got all the right ingredients, there's lots of ghostly goings on, a creepy mansion, weird inhabitants and plenty of atmosphere (it was quite Susan Hillish in that respect) but it seemed a little too predictable to me. There was a twist at the end which I saw coming a mile away, which, as you will know, means it was as plain as the nose on your face. Having said that, this is a children's book and so, as an adult, I'm judging it unfairly. I was hoping that he'd write a longer version of one of his tales of terror, something maybe a little more twisted and macabre but this felt more like a traditional ghost story. I'm being quite hard on it because I did enjoy it, I was just hoping for something more. Perhaps I got too excited and carried away by the thought of a full length story from Chris. The synopsis above pretty much explains the storyline. Michael is another good ghost story character because again he does a lot of that sort of forbidden snooping around that is bound to lead to trouble (if you heard strange banging noises seemingly coming from inside some wood panelling would you investigate? .. of course you would and you'd go looking for strange ghostly ladies who appear in the mist and then suddenly disappear again too wouldn't you?) Michael clearly hasn't heard of the phrase 'curiosity killed the cat' which is just as it should be. There is a baddie and, like I said earlier, it's fairly easy to spot him/her .. I'm sure even Scooby Doo & Shaggy would have whipped his/her hood off (figuratively speaking .. he/she didn't wear a hood .. if they had then my detection of them may have come even earlier.) Of course it might be that I'm becoming quite Sherlockian but to be honest, I very much doubt it I did get the vague chills, but the central heating had packed up so it could've been that The story was very readable, I just didn't feel it quite lived up to my expectations (which admittedly were sky high.) 7/10

Oh, this made me quite teary, how fantastic .. definitely want to hear more about what she's been reading. And she has the whole of your extensive library to choose from .. I do envy her.

The Iris Trilogy - John Bayley Waterstones Synopsis: This volume brings together John Bayley's books dedicated to the memory of his wife, Iris Murdoch. Bayley's account of his long and loving marriage to the great novelist Iris takes us from their love affair's comical beginnings in Oxford in the early 50s (Bayley courted Iris on account of her unchallenging plain looks and their first date consisted of a revolting dinner followed by a disastrous dance when Iris sprained her ankle) through its slow and painful closure when Iris developed Alzheimer's 40 years later, to a searching analysis of the condition of bereavement and how he built a life for himself after Iris's death. As Bayley charts the gradual dissolution of Iris's remarkable intellect side by side with the detail of their gloriously eccentric and profoundly satisfying life together, what emerges is the complex portrait of an enigmatic and brilliant woman and of a marriage of quite extraordinary, unforced happiness, and an insight into the mysterious symbolism of Iris Murdoch's novels. Review: Continuing with my obssession of all things 'Iris', these are the beautiful memoirs written by her husband John Bayley. The first book is called Iris and in it John looks back to when he first met her .. or first saw her pedalling past his window at St Antony's College, Oxford University .. 'she was looking both absent and displeased. Maybe because of the weather, which was damp and drizzly. Maybe because her bicycle was old and creaky and hard to propel. Maybe because she hadn't met me yet?' ... They were soon to meet at a party given by a senior member of the English Faculty and though John wasn't particularly attracted to her physically (although nearly everybody else was.. male and female) he was incredibly drawn to her. It's as they're bicycling home that Iris asks John if he writes novels, he thinks it an odd question, but she soon tells him that she has written one and it's soon to be published .. but she says 'you mustn't tell anyone .. I don't want anyone to know' .. to be in her confidence makes John feel very happy indeed. Iris of course was extremely bright, an intellectual (but genuinely modest), she had many friends as well as lovers, she had already written works on philosophy and was to go on to write twenty six novels, several of them highly acclaimed. She was serious but had a sense of fun that was totally in tune with John's .. in a way you feel that when they met two pieces of a puzzle came together. But that was then, the Iris in the present is very different and she has no memory of having written anything. Iris has at this stage of John's writing been suffering from Alzheimer's for several years and John is both her loving husband and carer. Communication is a problem, Iris asks a lot of questions but they're not often clear or comprehensible, she's a chatterer too .. chattering away like the 'Weatherbys' (their nickname for the swallows that used to sit on the telephone wires outside their bedroom window twittering away.) There's bafflement but there's also jokes, humour has survived Alzheimer's .. or it has at this stage anyhow ... their little in jokes, silly rhymes and quotes can still make Iris smile. Thankfully, Iris, always the most placid of people, has not changed all that much in temperament. Aggression, which can be a side effect hasn't affected her. John spends most of his early mornings now in bed with Iris snoozing and making her little cooing noises beside him as he types away on his trusty 'Tropical Olivetti', she finds the noise reassuring. In the old days she would have taken herself off to her study to start work. This ability to sleep like a cat is a godsend because daily life can be a mix of anxiety and confusion. Getting Iris in or out of her clothes is a problem, washing too, she's developed a penchant for picking up litter .. anything she see's basically, old coke cans, cigarette butts, silver paper .. and she hoards it all in piles and now she's watering the indoor plants to death. They never had a TV before but now Iris is comforted by morning children's TV especially 'Teletubbies', they trot about not doing anything much and somehow this attracts and engages her. In the next book of the trilogy Iris and Her Friends, Iris' condition has worsened, she's much more anxious now and confused and their daily routine, such as it is, has become more of a trial. There are more silent tears, more desperate rattling of the locked doors and more frequent escape attempts (some sucessful.) She doesn't respond to jokes anymore, or not as easily, and is refusing food. This book however is less about Iris and more about John, he finds strangely that as Iris's memory disappears his sharpens and in a way it's a comfort to him, an escape from some of the anxieties of the day. During quiet times, when Iris is asleep or calm, John wanders away down memory lane, re-living his youth and finding solace in recollections and daydreams. The last book is entitled The Widowers House where John talks about Iris' last days in the nursing home and her eventual death. I blubbed my way through it, I could hardly see the pages. I was thinking that perhaps now John at least would be able to get some sense of calm and order back into his life, he was after all in his seventies and had, practically single handedly, looked after Iris during the last few years of her life which must have been an awful physical and mental strain but no, he's besieged on all sides by well meaning friends and finds himself getting into all sorts of scrapes concerning the ladies (honestly this could have been a plotline in one of Iris' novels .. so bizarre were some of the occurences.) I found myself feeling quite anxious for him ... 'widowers don't lead lives. They wait for something to happen: and when something does happen it becomes a muddle from which they at once have to try and escape.' This is a long but very readable book. It's peppered with references and little insights into Iris's work and literary anecdotes and quotes in general. There's plenty here about their early life together as well as their later struggles and it's written with such love and honesty. John doesn't shy away from uncomfortable truth's .. sometimes detailing his occasional frustration with Iris, during the worst stages of her illness, and his rants and raves .. not everyone would have been so honest as to recount this but I imagine it's how anybody would react in the same situation. It's like a safety valve, to stop you from completely cracking up. It's truly sobering too to read about the effects of Alzheimer's on one of the most brilliant minds of the 1900's. 10/10

We should start a support group ... 'people who hate Madame Bovary and aren't afraid to say so' Honestly don't worry Kylie, we are in the minority .. a lot of people love it .. and you might read a different version to me (the one that everyone raves about .. I read the one that makes you want to stick pins in your eyes .. don't get that one.)