Books do furnish a room

Revelation Space by Alistair Reynolds I used to read a lot more science fiction 20 years ago than I do now, but I've had this on my shelves for a while and the other Reynolds I read was ok. Reynolds is an Astrophysicist and clealry knows his stuff. This is the first of a trilogy and is on a grand scale, what is termed space opera, I suppose. The plot is complex with a number of narrative strands and focuses on why there appear to be few extant spacefaring civilisations and many more civilisations that appear to have ended/been destroyed. There are lots of interesting ideas related to how humans get around in the vast emptiness of space. The possibility of living on in digital form is not a new one, but Reynolds takes it a little farther. Like Iain Banks, Reynolds also uses the idea of a level of sentience in machines and does some interesting things with it. The space suits with views of their own and a good line in sarcasm are quite amusing. All of the three main protagonists have their own particular agenda and Reynolds weaves their coming together very well. Two of the three main protagonists are female, and that was refreshing. The whole thing is a bit noir and at times there is a clautrophobic feel. There is also a bleakness to it, which wasn't a fault and at least Reynolds didn't use Banks's trick of slaughtering all of his main protagonists in his sci-fi novels. The characterisation is a little thin and two-dimensional at times and more emotional depth would have been welcome. The descriptions of the ship; a massive one, with a skeleton crew, in a sort of graceful degeneration, are very good. The timeline is confusing all the way though, but does manage to come together at the end. However the very end of the book is a bit of a fudge, but as it's the first part of a trilogy, that is forgiveable. If you like your sci-fi a bit gothic and on a big scale with big ideas, then this may be for you. 7 out of 10 Starting Labyrinth by Kate Mosse

Care of Wooden Floors by Will Wiles Bizarre and periodically funny novel about how things can go spectacularly wrong from small beginnings. Set in a nameless city in Eastern Rurope. Oskar is an obssessively clean, tidy and neat composer who is going over to LA to get divorced from his wife. he asks an old university friend (who he hasn't seen for some years) to look after his flat. It is a bright, shiny minimalist flat. There is an expensive piano, expensive books, a shiny kitchen, an expensive leather sofa and most of all a massively expensive wooden floor which is Oskar's pride and joy. The aforesaid friend is something of a slob who is a little accident prone. Oskar leaves lots of notes everywhere about how to look after the flat and the floor. There are also two cats and voluminous instructions on how to care for them. Oskar's notes are odd and almost psychic (like the one under the piano lid saying don't play with the piano). There is a great deal of red wine and descriptions of hangovers. The inevitable happens and the friend, who is also the narrator, puts a glass on the floor and leaves a small stain. Then life just spirals out of control in a graceful and gradually spiralling way. Lots more wine stains, broken glass, blood, blue dye (you'll have to read the book for that), adventures with the rubbish chute, a reappearing animal corpse, a pack of wild dogs and general death and mayhem. It is easy to read, fairly slight and amusing at times. The blurb in the book says it's about alienation and entropy, and at a stretch I suppose that's true. The ending is a bit dull and the build up to it is rather predictable; you can see it coming. I originally heard this on the radio as a book at bedtime reading. I remember it being funnier then; possibly it is better as an audio with some juicious editing because at times the joke is dragged out a bit. 6 and a half out of 10 Starting Vathek by William Beckford

The Start of the End of it All by Carol Emswiller Quite a quirky and unusual collections of stories that are not easy to categorize, but are very good and thought provoking. Published by The Women's Press, the cover says science fiction, they won a fantasy award and they are most certainly feminist. A few are clearly science fiction, sort of, but they reflect on life and society now. Some are just straightforward short stories that are easily set in our present, many are open ended and have no obvious setting. Having said that, these are good stories for a number of reasons. Emshwiller moves easily from lightness and humour to sadness and has a nice touch in satire. In many of these stories the lead role is taken by women, no surprise, but they are almost entirely older women in their 50s and above. They are strong, human surprising, often lonely characters (loneliness is one of the themes). All the characters have flaws, but that makes them all the more attractive and the stories all the better. Many of the female characters feel they don't belong and that is also a theme, as is resolution of this lack of belonging, in ways that vary and are not always entirely comfortable. These stories do take some reading, often because Emshwiller makes you work for resolutions; it isn't all neatly wrapped for the reader and sometimes thought and a re-read is necessary. I'm deliberately avoiding much detail about the stories because to describe most of them is almost to tell the stories; there are lots of subliminal and psychoanalytic half-references (watch out for the Jungian psychoanalyst). The alien invaders who promise women an end to the tyranny of men, only to replace it by, yes, you've guessed it! "Meet the new boss! Same as the old boss!" The best stories are the ones which don't really have a direct science fiction element, they are often much more subtle and a couple of them reminded me of Virginia Woolf's shorter fiction. All in all a good collection of stimulating short stories. 8 out of 10 Starting Guernica by Dave Boling

Small Island by Andrea Levy Mixed feelings about this one; read very easily and the historical context is one that interests me. However it did not really do what I thought it set out do, which was to chronicle the early years of the Windrush generation. There are four narrators; Hortense and Gilbert from Jamaica and Queenie and Bernard who are English (although Bernard feels like a bit of an add on, arriving in the last quarter of the book). That makes the book feel a little disjointed. A great deal of time is also spent with the earlier lives of three of the protagonists. Too much time, I think for the length of the novel. I think Levy is trying to write three novels in one. Firstly, life in Jamaica and Britain in the late 1920s and 1930s; Secondly, the war and the experiences of West Indian servicemen and interactions with locals and GIs. Thirdly, Windrush and beyond. That's all too much for one novel to take. As a consequence all three areas suffer. I also felt that the characters lacked something, which again may be as a result of trying to cram too much in. On the whole I prefer David Dabydeen's more thoughtful approach to the topic. One part that did ring true was the racism in the white community, which I remember from the late 1960s and early 1970s. I particularly remember the unthinking and irrational nature of it which Levy portays well. This was a source of puzzlement to me as a child as I saw my elders behaving in ways which I thought were rude and inhuman. Levy describes the surprise and disappointment of the new arrivals as the encounter post-war London. All in all a bit of a varied mixture which tried to do too much. 6 out of 10 Starting Care of Wooden Floors by Will Wiles

As a Man Grows Older by Italo Svevo Interesting novel about the nature of jealousy and obsession. Svevo was a friend of James Joyce and was one of the models for Leopold Bloom. This is one of his early works and is much less well known than [book:Zeno's Conscience|84737] which Joyce championed. The book documents the path of a relationship between Emilio Brentani, a not so young (approaching 40) failed writer turned insurance agent and the young and beautiful Angiolina. Wait a minute: this is the second book on mid-life crisis I've read recently .... The other actors include Emilio's sister Amalia and his friend Balli who is a sculptor. Angiolina is clearly (to the reader and also to Balli) enjoying her youth with a variety of different suitors; something Emilio is in denial about, refusing to believe most of the time what is before his eyes (but is consumed with jealousy). It is noteworthy that the two main female protagonists are in distinct contrast. Angiolina has many lovers and deceives Emilio throughout. Amalia, his sister is devoted to him and takes care of him. She is described as being not good looking and can only dream of being married (literally, as Emilio hears her talking in her sleep). We seem to be back to the virgin/'lady of the night' conflict which many men seem to be obsessed with. However Svevo does not follow quite the usual line as there is no happy ending and neither woman finds any fulfilment and both are treated as objects by the men in their lives. Neither does Emilio find any happiness and lives on memories; he feels responsible for a tragedy and eventually is faced with the true nature and consequences of his obsession. There is also a touch of Dante and Beatrice about it all as well. I liked the way that Svevo used the weather and landscape as a backdrop to the story and there are some good touches of humour and farce throughout. None of the characters are particularly likeable, especially the men, whose thought processes you are party to. It is a good study of obsessive love of an adored object; so obsessive that it damages everything else in your life. 7 out of 10 Starting Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

Thanks everyone; it was a lovely book; the film is also worth looking up! Herzog by Saul Bellow This is rightly perceived to be a classic, published in 1964. Written well before Bellow became the curmudgeonly conservative of his older age, when he attacked multiculturalism and post-modernism, it was a joy to read. It concerns the mid-life crisis of Moses Elkanah Herzog; when his second wife Madeleine elects to end their marriage and start a relationship with Herzog’s best friend Valentine. Moses writes letters to and about all those involved (letters that are never posted) and also to significant political, religious and philosophical figures (current and historical). It is clearly a little autobiographical as there are many similarities between Herzog and Bellow, including the number of marriages they are on. Everything is told from Herzog’s point of view, so we don’t really know if the description of the end of the marriage is accurate or if Herzog is an unreliable narrator; although he is endearing, if not entirely stable. Herzog has insight into his plight and his own faults and has a good line in self ridicule. Despite the disintegration of Herzog’s life, the story is life-affirming and at times very funny. It is, of course beautifully written and we are taken through all the labyrinthine meanderings of Herzog’s mind as he does sensible things, monumentally stupid things and begins to work through his problems in his own unique way. There are some odd notes; the character of Ramona springs to mind. She is the new woman in Herzog’s life (we are not sure how new). Herzog is a small time college professor in his late 40s. Ramona is younger, a marvellous cook, a voluptuous sex goddess, she loves Herzog unconditionally and is willing to save him and she is happy to put up with some of his less endearing habits (No wish fulfilment here Mr Bellow?). Of course the ex-wife Madeleine is a restless thinker and striver; more cerebral than Ramona. Sex goddess who cooks as well, in opposition to restless intellectual; what is he trying to suggest? Despite the rather primitive male perspective, it is a great book and Herzog is rather likeable despite his incompetence and absurdity (or perhaps because of it). 8 and a half out of 10 Starting The Start of the End of it All by Carol Emshwiller

The Go-Between by L P Hartley A sublime novel, beautifully written and very evocative. It has, probably one of the most famous opening lines in literature. Do I need to quote it? Probably not, but I will because it does sum up the book; "The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there." In the early 1950s Leo Colston looks back on the long hot summer of 1900 when he turned 13, the memory of which he has blanked out. He discovers his diary and begins to piece together the events. Hartley describes life in an English preparatory school rather well and the relationship between Leo and Marcus Maudsley is believeable throughout. Leo is invited to Brandhan Hall to spend part of the holidays (including his birthday) with Marcus and his family; a home much grander then Leo's. Here Leo accidentally falls into the role of go-between for Marian Maudsley (Marcus's sister, supposed to be engaged to Lord Trimingham) and a local farmer Ted Burgess. The tragedy is played out in the shimmering heat of the summer, set around life in the Hall, a cricket match and a general sense late Victorian/Edwardian sense of progress. The description of a hot English summer is spot on ( I'm being reminded of that at the moment!)and there is plenty of symbolism going on beneath. Leo becomes obsessed with Mr Maudsley senior's wether station checking the rising Mercury (contrast Mercury, messenger of the gods). Leo's innocence, inquisitiveness and naivety perfectly counteract the desires, plots and plans of the adults. Hartley explores the nature of class and gender at the time; the cricket match is so exactly portrayed (Hall vs Village). there are also deeper meanings; the scene with the deadly nightshade is remarkable and Leo's interest in the signs of the zodiac all fit neatly together as part of the tapestry. Of course, when reading and writing about it, Pinter's brilliant film starring Alan Bates and Julie Christie is in my mind and has become almost impossible to separate from the book. The remembering of repressed memories is very Freudian and the obvious defence mechanisms ring very true; as does the intrusion of adult sexuality into young innocence. The restraint and not revealing everything adds to the power of the novel; just a beautifully written novel, 9 out of 10 Starting The City and the City by China Mieville

You Shall Know Them by Vercors This is an odd novel which does not fall easily into any camp. It is gripping and difficult to put down, it has deep flaws, but raises interesting questions. The sory is a simpla one. A man (Douglas Templemore) calls a doctor early one morning to ask him to look at a fairly newborn child. The doctor notes he is too late as the child is dead. Douglas affirms this is what he wants the doctor to confirm as he has recently injected the child with strychnine chlorhydrate. The police are called and ask about the child's mother; " ...is the -er- mother here then? "no" said Douglas "Ah ... where is she?" "She was taken back to the zoo yesterday" "The Zoo? Does she work there?" "No she lives there" Here is the nub of the story. Douglas was part of an expedition to Papua new Guinea which had discovered a missing link type ape species known as Tropis for short. These creatures bury their dead and smoke meat and have other human type characterisitics. The land they are found on belongs to a large conglomerate who become very interested in the Tropis ability to be taught to do basic menial tasks. The industrialist intends to effectively breed them and turn them into slave labour to work in factories. they will need to be fed and kept healthy but not paid. It is argued that this is the same principal as other domestic animals like horses and cattle. Douglas and the scientists involved find this repulsive and some of them think the tropis may be human. However that will have to be established in court. Douglas, with help, artificially inseminates a Tropi female with his semen and a child is born. This is the child Douglas kills. He has had the birth registered and the child christened and he demands to be arrested and tried for murder. The court will therefore have to establish if Douglas is a murderer. To do that they will have to decide if the tropi is human. If the court decides Tropis are human, Douglas will have won, but he will be guilty of intentional (first degree) murder and will face the death penalty. The stage is then set for the court arguments about the nature of man, metaphysics, religion, zoology. It's interesting philosophical and biological stuff and as I said gripping. The first chapter is brilliant and the idea a good one, but there were serious flaws which I could not overlook. Even though it was written in the early 1950s and can be said to be "of its time" it is very Eurocentric and racist to a degree I found intolerable. The native islanders of Papua and New Guinea are portrayed as almost sub-human. The argument seems to be that we don't have to prove they are like us (they are clearly "miles away"), just that they are close enough to other native tribes. For me, that ruined the very promising start and the excellent idea. 4 out of 10 Starting As a Man Grows Older by Italo Svevo

After Arkadia by Nella Bielski An unusual novel; picked up in my favourite local antique/bookshop/rummage store for a mere £1.50. I have to admit I had never heard of Nella Bielski and there is little on wiki about her. Born in the Ukraine, studying philosophy at Moscow university and moving to France in 1962. She is a long-time collaborator with John Berger and has written novels, plays and film. The blurb on the back of the novel quoted from the Times review by Jasper Rees; "hints of Nabokovian reverie and Pasternakian symbolism". That didn't put me off and I'm glad I bought it! Having now read it and I can cetainly see the similarities with Pasternak. Set initially in Odessa in the months and years leading up to the Russian Revolution, the novel centres on Jeanne, a dancer. She is suddenly unable to dance and becomes a silent screen star in Russia and to an extent in America. Jeanne is a waif-like almost transparent/transluscent character who appears (but isn't) fragile. Jeanne meets and falls in love with Alexander Illytch,a surgeon/doctor. At this point war and revolution intervene. Jeanne's mother and housekeeper leave for France and Alexander leaves for the front. Jeanne is left with a rag-tag of friends and acquaintances, Isaak and the consumptive Dasha, both Bolsheviks, Filaretov, a pianist at the local cinema,Grigory the coachman/handyman and his horse and Igoriok, a child whom jeanne has become responsible for in the chaos. The stumble along for a while until the chaos of the revolution strikes. Jeanne ends up in France with her mother, where she mixes with emigres, teaches dancing and relationships. The ending is abrupt and somewhat open. There is too much potential for spoliers, but the second half of the book is very powerful; an analysis of love, loss, friendship, family with a fair amount of food thrown in. It is also a very good account of the outworking of what would now be called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I had not heard of Nella Bielski, but I was impressed by this profound and moving novel about how humanity copes with disaster and tragedy. The character of Jeanne is a remarkable creation; many layered, passionate, compassionate; one of the strongest and most interesting characters I have come across in a long time. Well worth looking up! 8 out of 10 Starting Small Island by Andrea Levy

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe A real tour de force; but a plain tale simply told. Achebe illustrates and explains rather than judges and provides a moving and very human story of change and disintegration. Set in Nigeria in the nineteenth century it tells the story of Okonkwo and his family and community. He is a man tied to his culture and tradition and fighting to be different to his father. He is strong and proud and unable to show his feelings. His courage and rashness get him into trouble with his community and traditions. The book also charts the coming of Christian missionaries to the area and the effects they had; especially in attrating those who were outcast and of low status. Okonwko's fate is tragic and is representative of the destruction of his culture. I have been puzzled to read some of the negative reviews that just don't seem to get it; saying it is too alien(??), too simple, badly written and so on. Part of Achebe's genius is that he tells the tale like all good writers; he explains when he has too and creates nuanced characters. The white missionaries are not unthinking or one-dimensional; just convinced they are right. Okonwko is also nuanced; unable to show the feelings he clearly has (especially to his daughter) and so eager to be strong and to lead that he is unable to be compassionate like his peers. Achebe does not judge; he charts the decline of a culture. He is not saying one side is entirely good or bad and there are elements to shock (the treatment of twins) and areas of great strength. The brilliance is in the capturing of a period of change and cataclysm in the Ibo culture; but it is also a simple father/son relationship story. Achebe powerfully shows that like many of the greatest authors, he has the ability to put complex ideas across simply. 9 out of 10 Starting You Shall Know Them by Vercors

Unclay by Theodore Powys Death arrives at the rural village of Dodder with orders to unclay (it’s what death does for a living) two of its inhabitants. He manages to lose the bit of paper with the names on. So he decides to take a bit of R and R and stay in the village for a while. There is a strong allegorical element in this novel and Powys as always is not afraid to deal with difficult issues. There is a good deal of humour in the book, but it is also very bleak. On the surface it is a simple story but the ideas are very complex. The cast of characters are interesting to say the least: a woman who thinks she is a camel, a man so afraid of love that he plants nut trees around his house to keep love out, the publican who thinks the local squire is the best thing ever, the local farmer who is thoroughly evil and enjoys nothing more than the infliction of pain, a local miser who plans to sell his young daughter in wedlock to the farmer so he has a young innocent creature to torture, the Parson who prefers to read Jane Austen to his parishioners rather than the Bible and a whole collections of locals who each have their own idiosyncrasies, some of which are very strange. There is a good deal of carnality in this novel, a little akin to Hardy. However there is a difference, in Hardy there is usually a price to pay; remember Tess or Fanny Robin (Far from the Madding Crowd). For Powys this just seems to be the way people behave; it is morally neutral and anyway there is a great deal of other strangeness going on. However the sex and death link which Freud posited and Powys was clearly influenced by is not just looked at by Powys; it’s taken several times round the dance floor and is very much in plain sight. Death has, it seems, discovered the joys of sex and has intimate relations with most of the female cast (including the vicar’s wife); John Death is seemingly irresistible. The book has its origins in Christian tradition, but it is not orthodox by any means. There is a real gothic horror feel to some of it; “As Joe Bridle bent over the pond, two dead corpses rose up but, when he thought he knew their sodden faces, the waters thickened and the faces vanished.” It is also a meditation and exploration of belief and life and death, something Powys also battled with; as he wrote elsewhere: “Though not of the Church, I am of the Church. Though not of the faith, I am of the faith. Though not of the fold, I am of the fold; a priest in the cloud of God, beside the Altar of Stone. Near beside me is a flock of real sheep; above me a cloud of misty white embraces the noonday light of the Altar. I am without a belief; — a belief is too easy a road to God.” In fact as you can see here Powys is very sceptical at times, “ ..at the bottom of the well of being one may discover, instead of a mighty God, only the cap and bells of a mad fool.” Whilst there is a clear and very English heritage here going back to Donne and Cowper, as John Gray points out, there is also a clear link to the Greek sceptics like Pyrrho. The ending as no surprise as the reader knows whose names are on the lost paper, but there are several twists and turns and Powys certainly has a sense of the macabre. There are lots of hidden surprises and Powys has a great sense of theatre. John Death is a strange and endearing character with real flaws and failings and even the bit part characters are very strong. Well worth looking out for. 9 out of 10 Starting The Go-Between by L P hartley

I've been meaning to read Things Fall Apart for years bookworm! Imperial Ambitions by Chomsky This a re-read of a book I read some years ago; still as sharp and provocative. This is Chomsky in his easy to grasp mode;not the philosopher or linguist. It is a series of interviews and talks and shows off the breadth of Chomsky's knowledge. He is equally happy going into the detail of US imperial history (Grenada, Guatemala 1954, Vietnam, Cuba and so on), quoting Mill, Cobden, Lord Curzon, Robert McNamara. He dissects US foreign policy in relation to Iraq and the middle east, arguing that the invasion of Iraq was the height of folly and a war crime. There are a few swipes at religious fundamentalism, the media, but the main thrust concerns US foreign policy and he argues that the US is a failed state. Chomsky analyses the origins of Al-Qaeda and asserts that it was US foreign policy, specifically the Clinton administration's missile attacks on Afghanistan and Sudan that created Al-Qaeda. Chomsky also looks at the origins of propaganda, drawing on Taylorism (a doctrine which developed the ideas related to control of workers whilst at work and the production line) and the way it was used to look at how you controlled people outside work. Mein Kampf also drew on the ideas Henry Ford propounded in relation to society and the Jews, but took the use of propaganda to new levels. There is lots here to ponder on and Chomsky is never dull and always provocative. His political thought can probably be described as anarcho-syndicalist; but of course that is a label and labels are always insidious. 8 out of 10 Starting Benjamin Britten by Paul Kildea

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri This is a diaspora novel; the story of a Bengali family moving to America; the intermingling of cultures, the way different generations adapt and change. It is really well written and is very easy to read and I enjoyed this more than the collection of short stories by the same author. The plot itself is fairly thin and revolves around the main protagonist Gogol Ganguli, his parents (who move to America from India and his various doomed love interests. There are some good food descriptions, and for me that always improves a novel! Lahiri describes cultural alienation rather well; the struggles with dress codes, the tensions between traditional moral values and more modern mores, feeling apart from society, mixing with others in the same situation. Lahiri sometimes switches narrators; this can be illuminating, but she doesn't really do it enough and some alternative points of view would have strengthened the whole. Gogol/nikhil sometimes felt a little flat and more input from the female characters would have made him more three dimensional. It's also about growing up and leaving home; becoming an adult with your parents. There was an emotional warmth and tenderness to this novel which I enjoyed; Lahiri's characters were all likeable in their own way. A simple fable of life, love, growing up and food. Not bad at all. 8 out of 10 Starting Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

The Hare with the Amber Eyes by Edmund De Waal This was an interesting read and a fascinating account of the journey of a group of netsuke through a family history of about 140 years and several generations. The journey moves from Paris to Vienna, across Europe through Nazism and to Japan. De Waal's family history is fascinating and I was particularly interested in the link to Proust and Great Great Uncle Charles being the model for Swann. The descriptions of furnishings and the decorative aspect of the grand residences are sumptuous. De Waal has an artist's eye and a good way with words. The account of the rise of Nazism, the Anschluss and the dismantling of the family's fortunes give a clear and rightening first hand account of the horrors of the 1930s and the war. Their fortunes reflect those of many wealthy Jewish families at that time. De Waal has put together his family history well. The only caveat I have is that the accumulation of wealth is seldom a neutral thing; especially in a family of bankers. I would have been more interested in some detail about the lives of those who made them and the conditions in which they were made; and perhaps some sense of the contrast of fabulous wealth with society around. I felt a little uncomfortable that the servants were just referred to by their first names (did anyone know their surnames). On the whole it was a fascinating journey and one I enjoyed. 7 out of 10 Starting Imperial Ambitions by Chomsky

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese The general book blurb below sums up the novel well; it is a sweeping story, ambitious in its scope and range. "Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon at a mission hospital in Addis Ababa. Orphaned by their mother’s death in childbirth and their father’s disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution. Yet it will be love, not politics—their passion for the same woman—that will tear them apart and force Marion, fresh out of medical school, to flee his homeland. He makes his way to America, finding refuge in his work as an intern at an underfunded, overcrowded New York City hospital. When the past catches up to him—nearly destroying him—Marion must entrust his life to the two men he thought he trusted least in the world: the surgeon father who abandoned him and the brother who betrayed him" It is a good tale, well told and sometimes a good story is what is needed. It does ramble a bit. Verghese is a surgeon and he clearly knows his stuff. He also shares a good deal of it in some detail and at some length. Not for the very squeamish. So what turned an evocative, enjoyable story into something much more personal and powerful? Three years ago my wife had a mastectomy. It was a traumatic time, but she got through it. Though I helped, supported (physically and emotionally), I always wondered whether I truly undertood. What Verghese does here is talk about surgery in more emotional terms. My wife read this book some time ago and she underlined some parts of it. One of the protagonists had life saving surgery towards the end of the book. He wakes up from surgery and sees the two surgeons (both of whom were very close to him) and he is grateful, but; "They stood before me, these perpetrators of organised violence on my body" then, I think I really understood more clearly and that made me cry. Verghese's reflections on surgery and the relationship between surgeon and patient are scattered throughout are are illuminative. The story covers identity, twins, loss, betrayal and so on; all the easy ones. It is good, but what tipped it over into something more personal was the shared (if later) reading with my wife. 9 out of 10 Starting Revelation Space by Alistair Reynolds

Proust is long; but I've tackled it by doing a volume at a time; less intimidating and yes Monty Python's take on it is hilarious! Middle C by William Gass I’ve taken my time reading this; mainly because I didn’t want it to end. Gass is a master craftsman; you can drift along so easily in the prose that you don’t realise how good it is. Gass plays with words with a light touch and even makes up/develops a few (gossipacious anyone? According to my spell-check it isn’t a word!) One of the central themes is clearly identity. Our protagonist has several identities, indeed names. Joseph/Joey Skizzen (Yussel Fixel briefly thanks to a father who thought that it would be a good idea to change his family’s identity from Austrian to Jewish as the Nazis came to power). Joseph starts life in Austria, moving to England with his parents (living through The Blitz) and finally to America, where he grows up. Joseph’s father disappears before they leave England and he is left with his mother and sister. They end up in Woodbine Ohio, where after schooling; brief stints working in a music shop and a library Joseph passes himself off as an academic in a small college where he teaches music. He specialises in twentieth century music; particularly atonal music and Schoenberg. In his spare time and in his spacious attic Joseph also collects newspaper clippings which depicts human inhumanity. These he pins around the walls and collects for his Inhumanity Museum. Joseph’s interior life is also rich and he spends a good deal of time working on a particular phrase/idea. “The fear that the human race might survive has been replaced by the fear that it will endure”. Gass creates some wonderful characters along the way, but the flow and depth of the book is not about the plot which drifts along merrily without a great deal of action. The themes in the book run very deep and I suspect I’ve missed several of them. There is a clear reference to Candide at the end; Joseph says of his mother, “She couldn’t cultivate her garden forever”; in contrast to Candide telling Pangloss “we must cultivate our garden”. I wonder if that is Gass’s sign off; who knows. Everything is transient and identity comes to an end. Of course Voltaire is attacking the optimism of Liebniz in Candide. The debate about Candide is still rumbling on, but whether you want to see the gardening in Middle C as a Garden of Eden motif (as in Voltaire) is open to debate (I can find arguments for and against). I think the Inhumanity Museum also feeds into the themes in Candide. I also think Voltaire’s best of all possible worlds arguments provide a counterpoint to Skizzen’s workings on “The fear that the human race might survive has been replaced by the fear that it will endure”. Candide has greatly influenced many of the great modern writers (Pynchon, Beckett, Vonnegut to name a few). I think as Middle C is analysed the Candide links will be developed and these rather disconnected ramblings are just a few musings along the way. Music and fakery are also themes; Joey pulls off fakes with his driver’s licence and his teaching post. Skizzen is the German plural word for sketch and we are treated to almost a series of sketches that make up Joey. It might also be instructive to play with the sound of the word and Skizzen might become schism; but then we do have Joey, Joseph and Professor Skizzen. Another avenue to follow. The music references may be orchestral and the protagonists instruments, each playing their part. Enough rambling; there is a sinister shadow in the background, the Nazis and the holocaust. There is a striking quote on p240 “The leader raises his baton; Stukas scream from the skies”. This follows the Odysseus analogy and is a clear musical reference. There are many levels of meaning but what came into my mind most clearly was Adorno’s post war comments about how it was impossible to write poetry after Auschwitz. This feels like Gass is working out how to write literature after Auschwitz (but the Inhumanity Museum is still in the attic). These literary and musical variations sparkle with ideas and the structure of the novel becomes more interesting the more you think about it. Gass has always said that to write he has to be angry, has to hate and he channels the rage wonderfully, dissecting and perhaps updating Candide with our modern inhumanities. I think I could probably continue to write about this book and already looking at what I have written I want to change and add. That might be a good time to leave in alone for now. 9 out of 10 Starting After Arkadia by Nella Bielski

Proust volume 6; The Fugitive Six out of seven volumes completed! This volume to me felt more like a linking volume, a preparation for the conclusion; although a great deal happens, mainly in relation to the now departed Albertine. True to form, now she's gone our narrator wants her more than ever. We learn more about the lesbian tendencies of Albertine and her friends. Our narrator visits Venice with his mother and reads Ruskin. We come across Saint-Loup again and Gilberte and the two get married, leading to various asides by the narrator about society weddings. As always it is beautifully written and has the usual dose of debauchery, loss, jealousy and paranoia. We return to a high level of introspection as the narrator analyses his grief. This minute analysis of an emotion and state of mind is something Proust does impeccably. And, of course, throughout the Albertine episodes the difference between the real Albertine and the Albertine of the narrator's imagination is illuminative of all human relationships. We do, of course live mostly in memory; the more so as we age. Our constructions and narratives of our lives can vary over time and conflict with each other and with the narratives of others. For this reason I am looking forward to seeing how Proust handles the passage of time in the final volume. 8 out of 10 Starting volume 7 Time Regained

Restless by William Boyd Fairly competent world war two spy thriller which goes along at a good pace without taxing the brain too much (not a bad thing as I'm also immersed in Proust and Gass at the moment). Set in 1976 with flashbacks to 1940/1941. The central characters are Sally and her daughter Ruth. Sally decides to let Ruth knowabout her hidden past as a apy and does so in a series of written chapters which gradually reveal her story. SWhe does so because she thinks someone is trying to kill her and feels she needs to tidy up a loose end or two. I liked the fact that there are two strong female protagonists and the tension is maintained at a pretty good level; the spy part of the story is also believeable. However there are plenty of cliches and too much stating the obvious. I also had some difficulty with Ruth's situation. She is a single mother, her son's father being a German academic. All of a sudden she discovers her mother's history. Her ex-lover's brother and girlfriend also turn up. They appear to be loosely attached to Baader-Meinhof. Ruth also teaches English to foreign students and one of her regulars is an Iranian who opposes the Shah and may be of interest to SAVAK. Just too many layers of coincidence. First Boyd I've read in a long time; it was ok but just a bit insipid compared to [book:Wish Her Safe at Home|2264024] which was so haunting. Nevertheless it was enjoyable. 7 out of 10 Starting The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann Mann's first novel and quite a saga it is; a family history stretching through the latter half of the nineteenth century and over three/four generations. It is more accessible than some of Mann's later works as here all the big topics that Mann raises are couched in routine and the daily rhythm of life. In his first novel Mann is writing about what he knows; these are the people and details of his childhood and upbringing, clearly set in his hometown of Lubeck. I was a little reminded of the Palliser novels, but though there are similarities, Trollope was more of a plain storyteller. There is always much more going on with Mann. I can imagine scholars of literature writing articles like "Dentistry and Death in Buddenbrroks". Decay and decadence are important themes. The tensions that the desire for an artistic life creates in a conventional bourgeois household. Yet there is an element of soap opera too; Thomas Buddenbrook upstairs reading Schopenauer whilst his wife is downstairs having a musical dalliance with a lieutenant. The typhoid motif appears for the first, but not the last time; rearing its head again in "Death in Venice". Of all the characters; for me the most significant is Antonie (Tony), who is in the book from beginning to end. Tony is the custodian, resilient; surviving life's setbacks. Her life is unfulfilled and she never forgets her youthful attempt at rebellion; this is clear at the end of the book. She also attempts to keep the peace between her two brothers. It is an impressive novel which straddles two centuries in its creation. Anthony Heilbut argues that Mann here creates a transition from Wagner and Nietzsche to Freud and Schonberg. There is always a sense of the fragility of life; death is always close and often the end is sudden. The book also ends quite suddenly. There remains an interesting undercurrent; Hanno is quite a novel character. He is uniterested in games, a target for bullies, an aesthete. Kai and Hanno provide a homoerotic undercurrent as Mann explores what is to be a recurrent theme in his novels. An interesting precursor to those later novels. 8 out of 10 Starting Herzog by Saul Bellow

Wish Her Safe at Home by Stephen Benatar This novel is crazy, fabulous, haunting, embarassing, disturbing, to rattle off a few descriptions; and I wasn't really expecting it. I knew Benatar briefly in the mid 80s when he lived in my home town for a while and I've read another of his novels (The Man on the Bridge) which was pretty good; but this was from leftfield. It is about Rachel Waring a spinster in her late 40s/possibly early 50s, who shares a flat with a friend and has a mundane job. She inherits an old Georgian house in Bristol from her great aunt and gives up her job to go and live there. All of the novel takes place inside Rachel's head and we are looking out onto the world through her eyes as she moves and meets new people. In one sense this is a simple and straightforward little story, if not for the character of Rachel herself. Rachel has been described as an unreliable narrator; but she is not at all unreliable; this is all real for her. She is certainly, at the start, an eccentric and rather odd narrator, then you realise from her interior life and the way she is reacting to those around her that she is mentally unwell and getting worse. Then you, as a reader, have to hold on tight as Rachel begins to disintegrate. You feel you want to step in and help, but you are stuck inside her head, you become angry with those who make fun of her (though she does not notice) and with those (Roger and Celia) who are clearly trying to take advantage of her. the last few scenes are truly awful. Yet there are also some wonderfully light comic touches. Rachel is really a composite of many different characters. She has been described as a cross between Blanche DuBois, Miss Havisham (with, eventually wedding dress; the scenes in the dress shop are hilarious), Vivien Leigh and she also reminded me a little of the governess in The Turn of the Screw. John Carey, in his excellent introduction compares her to Don Quixote (minus Sancho Panza, well a real Sancho Panza). The genius is that you can see things that Rachel does not, little nuances that Benatar skillfully weaves into the narrative that show the intentions of those around her. The manipulative lawyer, Roger and Celia (are they after her money/wanting to take advantage; you really want to whisper in her ear) and her one sexual experience when she was 20 when the boy was clearly doing it for a bet. Rachel's new home has a blue plaque on it relating to a little known eighteenth century opponent of the slave trade who dies young (33; an age which has some significance). Rachel tracks down a portrait of him and starts to write about him. You shake your haed a little when she starts to talk to him; but hey we all have an interior monologue. Whe she starts to see him ... John Carey, previously a professor of English at Oxford was on the Booker committee when it was published. he championed the book, but none of the other judges got it at all. He feels that it was because it was too disturbibg a book to be a prizewinner, too odd. Carey also thinks that the character of Rachel Waring is amongst the best attempts by a male writer to enter female consciousness in literature. There is a point in the book when you realise how bad things are with Rachel. Rachel sings show songs, dances in the queue at the chemist (ignoring odd looks), is polite and funny. Rachel, in her interior monologue suddenly uses a word which is completely out of the blue and out of character. You know then how deep the problem is, but by that time you are captivated by her, delusions and all; it's a difficult journey. I can sum it up best with a phrase from Doris Lessing's review; " This is a most original and surprising novel, and one difficult to forget: it stays in the mind" 9 out of 10 Starting Unclay by T F Powys

The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon This book is angry passionate, but written with great clarity and purpose. It is the classic critique of colonialism from the Marxist left with a powerful introduction by Sartre. It is written before Vietnam, before the changes in the sixties and by an eminent psychiatrist enmeshed in the struggle for freedom in Algeria. Fanon examines nationalim, imperialism and the colonial inheritance and manages to turn the traditional definition of the lumpenproletariat on its head. There are significant problems with the book; which are clear now. This is a very male book. The struggle is by men and the book is, on the surface, for men. When Fanon talks about intellectuals he refers to them as men. This was the zeitgeist of the left at the time, before feminism made an impact. It would be written differently today. The chapters about psychiatric disorders is very good and the descriptions gut wrenching; although many of the symptoms described would today be identified as post traumatic stress disorder. What this book really does of course is give you a sense of colonialism in Africa; the devastation and injustice. The opening of the book caused great controversy; "decolonization is always a violent phenomenon". People since have argued that the chapter on the necessity of violence is powerful, of course, but exaggerated and a bit over the top. Written in the heat of conflict. However, what we forgot is that the original colonization was much more violent and horrific. It can hardly be expected that at the end of empire and colonization people wave their colonial masters goodbye with a cheery "Thanks for all the fun!" Fanon understood this very well. It is a lesson we still have not learnt and we are still making the same mistakes with very similar results. 7 and a half out of 10 Starting The Hare with the Amber Eyes by Edmund De Waal

Disappearance by David Dabydeen Most of the reviews about this book complain that it is slow and nothing happens. It is true that the pace is languid and that there is very little action. However there is a great deal going on beneath the surface; as there always is with Dabydeen. The influence of Naipaul is clear as is that of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness; most of all though there is the influence of another Guyanese novelist Wilson Harris. The protagonist is a Guyanese engineer who comes to England to work on coastal defences on the south coast near Hastings. He stays in the village of Dunsmere with Mrs Rutherford. We move backward to his childhood and to his first engineering job in Guyana and then back to the present. Interestingly the particular stretch of coastline near Dunsmere is the same one where the protagonists of Rushdie’s Satanic Verses also land. Mrs Rutherford is a sort of guide, not only to the village, but to the past and colonialism. She has lived in Africa and has some tribal masks, which play a role in their discussions about England and colonialism; her husband has left her (now possibly dead). There are two characters who play similar roles; both workmen on the coastal projects; Swami in Guyana and Christie, an Irishman, in England. The novel is packed with symbolism; the crumbling cliff; falling apart as the empire fell apart. The migrant condition is examined in the interplay with Mrs Rutherford on the very stretch of coastline so symbolic in British history (1066 and all that). Of course the engineer is battling the very same sea that he battled in Guyana. The landscape in England is symbolic and strange: “I felt like some prehistoric bone in the Hastings museum which had suddenly stirred in its glass cabinet” Alienation and identity are strong themes; the engineer tries to fit in rather than be himself; Mrs Rutherford points out he too is hidden behind a mask of subservience because of his desire to be accepted. The contrast between the two engineering projects is significant; the sea triumphs in Guyana. As the worker Swami points out the engineer has adopted a western approach and not taken into account local conditions and local gods. In England Christie says much the same thing to him. Although the scheme in England works, the local gods here are custom and money. The Engineer’s mentor Prof Fenwick (who set up the job), he discovers (through Christie) is taking money and dragging the job out. The migrant experience is alien and unsettling, but changes the face of the landscape and indeed the structure of the land as the sea wall is completed. There are so many layers; the heart of darkness theme is also central and it is easy to get lost in all the levels of meaning. Actually and enjoyable and thought provoking read. 8 out of 10 Starting Restless by William Boyd

Thomas Mann: Eros and Literature by Anthony Heilbut Weighty and very good analysis of Mann's life and work, read in conjunction with Buddenbrooks. Not a conventional A to Z biography, Heilbut places Mann's work in the context of his family, geography, sexuality and politics. I got the impression that here was someone who had really got under Mann's skin, his contradictions, neuroses, triumphs and failures. The analysis of each of his major works is excellent, especially "Death in Venice". Heilbut explains Mann's homosexuality and ambivalence about his nature with great sympathy and perception. Fascinating too was Mann's political journey. Mann was always conservative in thinking, but initially he was Conservative in politics and in the First World War was a strong supporter of the German government. In the early 1920s he was one of the first to see the dangers of the Nazis and in a very few years moved politically to a socialist/humanist position; championing Proust and Kafka. This is a warts and all biography and Heilbut illustrates Mann's tempestuous relationship with his brother and his sometimes difficult relationship with his children. The Magic Mountain is one of my favourite books and Heilbut explains Mann's dazzling contradictions and narrative ploys and the novel's central themes; love and death. There is a detailed analysis of all Mann's major works and this has given me the impetus to consider reading other works, especially the Joseph trilogy. 8 out of 10 Starting The Wretched of the Earth by Fritz Fanon

The Debt to Pleasure by John Lanchester Quirky and inventive novel, which is well worth the effort of persisting with the pompous and irritating narrator. Tarquin Winot is a foodie and is not all that he seems. The blurb on the back of the book indicates that. Also anyone who changes hia name from Rodney to Tarquin does have identity problems. It is a sort of Mrs Beeton meets American Psycho. The food talk is actually very interesting and Lanchester clearly knows his stuff (he ought to as he has been a restaurant critic for the Observer). The recipes sound delicious and seductive; the ragu, Irish Stew and ratatouille stand out. Tarquin is a marvellous literary creation and Lanchaester has his snobbery just right. He compares the English penchant for having mint sauce with Lamb to their penchant for flagellation and cryptic crosswords; not a juxtaposition that had ever occured to me before! Is Tarquin and unreliable narrator? I think it may be more subtle than that; he is a seductive narrator. He builds the layers gradually; an aesthete, but he draws in rather than misleads. It is clear from early on that our narrator is seriously disturbed and you can see the ending from some distance. There is a facination wondering if you know what he is really up to and how he's going to achieve his goal. Note to Mr Easton Ellis; less is more and works better. This is a clever study of the seriously deranged, surrounded by lush descriptions of the French countryside and its cuisine. The novel flows easily and is very well written. It is original and interesting. 8 out of 10 Starting Wish her safe at home by Stephen Benatar

The Second Coming by John Niven This book is very, very funny. It is not a literary masterpiece and has lots of flaws. It will also offend many many people. It will particularly offend religious fundamentalists (especially Christian ones) and those who are racist and homophobic. Oh, and if you are offended by swearing and casual drug use, you may also have problems with it. When I say swearing, well it's not the odd damn and blast, just a little stronger. The premise is quite simple God goes for a weeks fishing in the 17th Century and returns in 2011 (heaven time is different). He is distinctly upset at what humanity has done to the earth; genocide, pollution famine and f**king Christians all over the place. God does not like Christians. God's message is very simple Be Nice. This was the commandment he gave Moses, who promptly dumped it and made up 10 of his own. He consults with Jesus, who is playing a guitar with Jimi Hendrix and smoking some very good marijuana (everyone smokes it in heaven). They decide Jesus must return to earth and promote the message Be Nice. Jesus, a struggling musician, turns up in New York with a rag tag band of followers in the form of the despised, homeless, broken. He enters American Idol (run by a very thinly disguised Simon Cowell) and history repeats itself in i9nteresting ways. Don't try to work out the timeline or the plot; there are enough holes to drive several buses through. The book is FUNNY. Especially the first quarter. The descriptions of Hell are gruesome but there are some neat touches; the fate of politicians and investment bankers. Hitler working as a waiter in a jewish restaurant. The fate of the founder of the KKK is particularly inventive. There is underneath it all a very human story about the whole point being Be Nice; nice involving justice, equality and fairness for all; oh, and lots of weed to smoke. This is guarenteed to make most people wince at some point, but the satire is biting. All the fundamentalists end up in hell; the suicides, damaged and lost are of course in heaven; along with the gay community ("God loves fags"). It's a good read and I laughed out loud on several occasions; said ouch, that went too far on others; but mostly it is excellent satire with a very human message. 7 and a half out of 10 Starting Disappearance by David Dabydeen